Table 2.2.7 Acacia species used in handicrafts (Broun and Massey, 1929; Palmer and Pitman, 1972; Maydell, 1986; Hines and Eckman, 1993)
Species |
Uses |
A. abyssinica |
wood used for carving in Tanzania |
A. ataxacantha |
stems split to paper-thin, red, white with dark streaks or white strips for
weaving and baskety |
A. caffra |
Xhosa use the root wood for making long-stemmed tobacco pipes and the long,
whippy branches for basketry |
A. erioloba |
wood used by the Bechuana making domestic utensils, spoons and knife handles.
When reeds are unavailable the Namas make flutes from the roots; Botswana bushmen peel
straight roots for making quivers |
A. erythrocalyx |
long branches twisted and used for wickerwork |
A. gourmaensis |
root and inner bark fibres used in the Sahel for various forms of wickerwork |
A. karroo |
Zulus use the thorns for needles, pins and pegs |
A. lahai |
bark source of a red dye |
A. mellifera sensu lato |
best fibres used in the Sahel for wickerwork |
A. nilotica sensu lato |
bark source of a red or black dye; pods yield a black, red or yellow dye |
subsp. adstringens |
pods source of a dye |
subsp. subulata |
pods used for making ink |
A. polyacantha |
|
subsp. campylacantha |
heartwood source of a dye |
A. seyal |
|
var. seyal |
source of a dye, paint and ink |
A. tortilis sensu lato |
bark and roots source of a yellow and brown dye |
subsp. spirocarpa |
bark fibres woven by the Mbeere women into baskets |
F. albida |
bark used in Namibia for huts |
Table 2.2.8 Domestic use of Acacia species (Broun and Massey, 1929; Palmer and Pitman, 1972; Maydell, 1986; Riley and Brokensha, 1988; Bird and Shepherd, 1988; Hines and Eckman, 1993).
Species |
Utilization |
AFRICA |
|
A. brevispica |
peeled stems used by the Mbeere for toothpicks |
A. bussei |
roots formerly used in Somalia for making sorghum storage sacks and string doors |
A. erythrocalyx |
peeled sticks used in the Sahel for toothbrushes/chewing sticks; prickles used
for fish hooks and leaves for a fish poison; long branches twisted into ropes and used for
wickerwork |
A. karroo |
Zulus use the thorns for needles, pins and pegs |
A. laeta |
Mbeere honey hunters and bee keepers use the twisted, resinous fibres as torches |
A. nilotica sensu lato |
pods yield black, red or yellow dyes; ink is made from the pods, Mbeere use the
tree sap and shreds of bark to deter bed bugs; sap produces a black, anti-rust coating on
iron; sharp spines used to remove jiggers from feet and in circumcision of boys; soft
flexible spines used to plug insect holes in gourds |
A. polyacantha |
|
subsp. campylacantha |
heartwood chips used for dyeing |
A reficiens |
|
var. misera |
Mbeere use the bark fibres for basketry |
A. seyal |
|
var. seyal |
Sudanese women fumigate themselves with the wood smoke; smoke reputed to be
insect-repellent. |
A. tortilis sensu lato |
Mbeere honey hunters and bee keepers use the twisted, resinous fibres as torches;
spines used for needles in Tanzania |
subsp. spirocarpa |
spines used by the Mbeere in circumcision ceremonies |
A. xanthophloea |
small side shoots for toothsticks |
F. albida |
unspecified use for soap in Tanzania |
INDIA |
|
A. leucophloea |
bark used to clarify and flavour spirits made from sugar and palm sap |
A. modesta |
twigs used for cleaning teeth |
Table 2.3.1 The use of Acacia species for environmental protection (Palmer and Pitman, 1972; Maydell, 1986; Bhandari, 1990; Hines and Eckman, 1993)
Species |
Use |
AFRICA |
|
A. edgeworthii |
the low, almost contiguous crowns offer soil protection over large areas of
Somalia |
A. karroo |
cut branches used for gully control; tree regarded as an indicator of surface or
underground water |
A. mellifera |
a dense, thicket-forming species |
A. nilotica sensu lato |
good germination and rapid growth makes this a useful species for afforestation
and enrichment planting |
A. polyacantha |
|
subsp. campylacantha |
grown for land reclamation in Tanzania |
A. tanganyikensis |
grown for soil and water conservation in Tanzania |
INDIA |
|
A. jaquemontii |
good sand stabilizing species |
Table 2.3.2 The use of Acacia species for soil fertility (Allen and Allen, 1981; Hines and Eckman, 1993)
Species |
Use |
A. abyssinica |
|
subsp. calophylla |
nodulation observed |
A. amythethophylla |
nodulation observed |
A. arenaria |
nodulation observed |
A. ataxacantha |
nodulation observed |
A. borleae |
nodulation observed |
A. burkei |
nodulation observed |
A. caffra |
nodulation observed |
A. chariessa |
nodulation observed |
A. davyi |
nodulation observed |
A. ehrenbergiana |
nodulation observed |
A. erubescens |
nodulation observed |
A. exuvialis |
nodulation observed |
A. fleckii |
nodulation observed |
A. galpini |
nodulation observed |
A. gerrardii |
nodulation observed |
A. goetzii |
nodulation observed |
A. haematoxylon |
nodulation observed |
A. hebeclada |
|
subsp. hebeclada |
nodulation observed |
A. hereroensis |
nodulation observed |
A. karroo |
nodulation observed |
A. kirkii |
|
subsp. kirkii |
nodulation observed |
A. kraussiana |
nodulation observed |
A. lahai |
nitrogen-fixing species in Tanzania |
A. leucophaea |
nodulation observed |
A. luederitzii |
nodulation observed |
A. mellifera |
|
subsp. detiens |
nitrogen-fixing species in Tanzania |
subsp. mellifera |
nodulation observed |
A. nebrownii |
nodulation observed |
A. nigrescens |
nodulation observed |
A. nilotica |
|
subsp. kraussiana |
nodulation observed |
A. oerfota |
nodulation observed |
A. permixta |
nodulation observed |
A. polyacantha |
|
subsp. campylacantha |
nitrogen-fixing and soil reclamation species in Tanzania |
A. reficiens |
|
subsp. reficiens |
nodulation observed |
A. rehmanniana |
nodulation observed |
A. robusta |
|
subsp. clavigera |
nodulation observed |
subsp. robusta |
nodulation observed |
A. senegal |
|
var. leiorhachis |
nodulation observed |
var. rostrata |
nodulation observed |
var. senegal |
nodulation observed |
A. seyal |
nodulation observed |
A. sieberiana |
nodulation observed |
A. stuhlmannii |
nodulation observed |
A. swazica |
nodulation observed |
A. tanganyikensis |
grown for soil and water conservation in Tanzania |
A. tenuispina |
nodulation observed |
A. tortilis |
|
subsp. heteracantha |
nodulation observed |
subsp. spirocarpa |
nodulation observed |
A. welwitschii |
nodulation observed |
A. xanthophloea |
nitrogen-fixing species in Tanzania |
F. albida |
nitrogen-fixing species in Tanzania |