16/12/2024
The humble Acacia karroo, also known as the sweet thorn, is bleak and grey in winter, but blooms in yellow sweet smelling flowers in summer.
It was a highly valued tree in the Northern Cape for its practical uses. At one time every part of the tree was used: gum, bark, branches, heartwood, pods and the wood. The leaves are nutritious food for livestock and game and in winter, it drops its protein-rich pods.
The gum was eaten, the bark was used to make an infusion used for diarrhea and the bark of young roots was used to make rope.
As children we loved to feast on its sweet yellow flowerballs.
The sweet thorn tree is short-lived, usually dying after 30 or 40 years.
An interesting fact about this tree is that it has nitrogen-fixing fungi attached to its roots, which means that the soil around every tree increases in fertility.
When the sweet thorn dies, its rotting timber attracts thousands of insects, which in turn feed birds and mammals. Its fallen branches trap seeds and create small protective microclimates for new plants.
