Page 13 - Dainfern Precinct Living 7 2021

NATURE

THE SWEET THORN
THE SWEET THORN

BY JAMES CLARKE AND MARY BROADLEY, PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIE CLARKE-HAVEMANN

t is not our national tree but it and even in human health. and goats, knee-high sweet thorns have
deserves to be. It is probably our found a way to survive – they bristle with
Iwidest-known and most prolific – the In maturity, it is usually a nicely shaped a tangle of gleaming, closely-packed
sweet thorn or the soetdoringboom of tree with a domed evergreen crown spines making them as unapproachable
the old folksong. It has at least a couple reaching at least thirty metres high, with as an aggressive porcupine. But, as the
of dozen more names including cape the most spectacular thorns. tree matures, such dramatic defensive
gum, cape thorn tree, cockspur thorn, measures become less necessary
karoo thorn, mimosa, white-thorn and, in In younger trees, the thorns are slender, and the thorns tend to be shorter and
Afrikaans, the doringboom, karoodoring, strong white spikes up to 150mm long inconspicuous.
mookana and witdoring. In Ndebele, with needle-sharp points. Needle sharp?
it is the isinga and in Tswsana, it’s the Indeed, its thorns (or spines as they are Sweet thorns are at their showiest in
mookana or mooka, while in Xhosa and properly called) have, for centuries, been early summer when their crowns erupt
Zulu it is the umNga. used as sewing needles. with small, golden-yellow pompoms,
which attract several species of
So many names but there was only butterflies including ten that are totally
one that was recognised by botanists, “A tree with roots dependent on the mimosa-like blossoms.
worldwide – the Acacia karroo. That deep into our history.” The blossoms metamorphose into
was its scientific name for generations. knobbly crescent-shaped pods that
But, alas, a committee of international provide rich fodder for countless
botanists meeting in Australia has The sweet thorn is a hardy tree and browsers, domestic and wild.
deemed that South Africa cannot use relatively fast-growing – a pioneer plant
this name anymore. that will establish itself in most types of The gathering in Australia deemed that
soil from sand to clay and throughout because of the international rules of
Local botanists are incensed. southern Africa, (except in montane plant classification, only Australia had
The sweet thorn has played an important regions), as far as Central Africa. the right to use the title ‘Acacia’. As a
role in South Africa’s development – in result, South Africa was obliged to
the country’s industrial development, in In drier areas, sometimes picked over change the generic name of all its
its agricultural development . . . by desperate browsers such as antelope 83 species of acacias.
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