Vachellia xanthophloea fruit pods

The thin, flat pods of Vachellia xanthophloea, few here, are often borne in bunches. They are straight in the photo, sometimes slightly curved, while constricted and undulating between the seeds inside.

Pod colour is yellowish to dark brown, the texture smooth, hairless and papery. The indehiscent pod carries up to nine seeds. The pods tend to break up transversely into segments after being shed. Pod size is about 7,5 cm long and 1,1 cm wide.

The flattened, ellipsoid seed is brown or olive green, darker in the centre and attached to a notable areole. Seed size is about 9 mm by 8 mm, sometimes smaller.

The pods as well as the leaves and flowers are eaten by giraffes, baboons and monkeys (Carr, 1976; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).