Fever Tree Seeds - Vachellia xanthophloea Syn. Acacia xanthophloea - Indigenous Medicinal

Vachellia xanthophloea Seeds

Fever Tree; Koorsboom

Vachellia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. Its species were considered members of genus Acacia until 2009. Vachellia can be distinguished from other acacias by its capitate inflorescences and spinescent stipules. Before discovery of the New World, Europeans in the Mediterranean region were familiar with several species of Vachellia, which they knew as sources of medicine, and had names for them that they inherited from the Greeks and Romans. The wide-ranging genus occurs in a variety of open, tropical to subtropical habitats, and is locally dominant. In parts of Africa, Vachellia species are shaped progressively by grazing animals of increasing size and height, such as gazelle, gerenuk and giraffe. The genus in Africa has thus developed thorns in defence against such herbivory. The members of Vachellia are trees or shrubs, sometimes climbing, and are always armed. Of the 163 species currently assigned to Vachellia, 52 are native to the Americas, 83 to Africa, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands, 32 to Asia and 9 to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Vachellia xanthophloea, previously known as Acacia xanthophloea and commonly known as Fever Tree, is an attractive, semi-deciduous to deciduous tree approximately 15 to 25 meters tall, when planted in open ground. It has an open, rounded to spreading or flattish crown which is sparsely foliated. Early pioneers thought that this tree caused a fever since people travelling or living in the areas where it grew contracted a bad fever. They therefore associated the fever with the tree. This however was erroneous as the swampy places where fever trees grow are also ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which carry malaria. Thus through these early settlers the myth was born and the plant acquired its name as the fever tree. The wood is hard, heavy and a suitable general purpose timber but it should be seasoned before use otherwise it is likely to crack. The main stems and larger branches are used to fence out hippo from fields on the Pongola flood plain and the timber is reputed to be used for boxwood. Medicinally the bark is used for treating fevers and eye complaints. It is especially well suited to be the subject of bonsai treatment.