Vachellia robusta

Vachellia robusta, the splendid thorn, is an Afrotropical tree species.

Vachellia robusta
On the Springbok Flats
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Clade:	Mimosoid clade
Genus:	Vachellia
Species:	V. robusta
Binomial name
Vachellia robusta (Burch.) Kyal. & Boatwr.[1]
Subspecies[2]
Vachellia robusta subsp. clavigera (E.Mey.) Kyal. & Boatwr. Vachellia robusta subsp. robusta (Burch.) Kyal. & Boatwr. Vachellia robusta subsp. usambarensis (Taub.) Kyal. & Boatwr.
Synonyms
Acacia robusta Burch.

It is native to eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia and Somalia in the north to South Africa and Namibia in southern Africa.^[3]

Subspecies

Three subspecies are accepted:

• Vachellia robusta subsp. clavigera (E.Mey.) Kyal. & Boatwr. – native to Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, and South Africa.^[4]
• Vachellia robusta subsp. robusta – native to South Africa, Botswana, and western Zimbabwe.^[5]
• Vachellia robusta subsp. usambarensis (Taub.) Kyal. & Boatwr. – native to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique.^[6] It is a common canopy tree in drier undifferentiated forest communities in the Northern and Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic of coastal Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique, where it grows up to 20 meters high.^[7]

Gallery

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  Foliage
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  Flowers and flower buds
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  Seed pod