Vachellia karroo, the soetdoring

The sweet thorn is a very well-known tree of southern Africa, albeit not (yet) by its fancy new name, Vachellia karroo. Distributed from the Western Cape and Eastern Cape to Namibia, Zambia and Mozambique, it indicates “sweet veld”, rich in nutrients with good soil for crops.

In arid parts it also indicates seasonal watercourses or drainage lines and the prolonged presence of underground water within reach of the long taproots of the sweet thorns trees. Animals will hide in their shade from the summer sun and elephants may dig here for water, in those parts where they still may roam.

Bushveld forms of the tree will differ much from Karoo ones. In the eastern bushveld these trees enjoy higher rainfall, up to 1500 mm per annum at the higher altitudes around 1000 m near the escarpment, but they also cope well in the arid west, at elevations of only 300 m where 350 mm of rain may fall in a year. Living conditions do things to resident appearances.

People familiar with one form of sweet thorn tree in their neighbourhood may disagree that some of the other forms belong to the same species. Such doubts can be overcome by a little observation and study, similar to overcoming feelings about differences among people from different parts of the world (Pooley, 1993; Coates Palgrave, 2002).