Vachellia nilotica(L.) P.J.H.Hurter & Mabb.

Egyptian thorn

WFO wfo-0001284776 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Vachellia nilotica, photographed by Mark Liptrot
fig. a Mark Liptrot, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-05-02 / obs. 194739697
Vachellia nilotica, photographed by Ricus Nel
fig. b Ricus Nel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192997728
Vachellia nilotica, photographed by Dave Richardson
fig. c Dave Richardson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 189599778
Vachellia nilotica, photographed by Ramesh Shenai Jr.
fig. d Ramesh Shenai Jr., CC BY 4.0 / obs. 142553394
Vachellia nilotica, photographed by Hildegard Klein
fig. e Hildegard Klein, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 124180018
Vachellia nilotica, photographed by Sabarni Sarker
fig. f Sabarni Sarker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 120176837
Vachellia nilotica, photographed by Jacky Judas
fig. g Jacky Judas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 103345561
Vachellia nilotica, photographed by P Jeganathan
fig. h P Jeganathan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 70396019

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 52 botanical countries

Regions where Vachellia nilotica is native: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gulf States, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya AlgeriaAngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaCameroonCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadDjiboutiEgyptEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLibyaMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweGulf StatesIranOmanSaudi ArabiaYemenAssamBangladeshEast HimalayaIndiaMyanmarNepalPakistanSri LankaWest Himalaya Cape Verde
Native distribution of Vachellia nilotica, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Cape Verde CVI
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Djibouti DJI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Libya LBY
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Senegal SEN
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
Sri Lanka SRL
West Himalaya WHM
Gulf States GST ASIA-TEMPERATE
Iran IRN
Oman OMA
Saudi Arabia SAU
Yemen YEM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 60 in flower of 256 examined

Peak flowering in Nov. Each bar is the share of Vachellia nilotica observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 60 of 256 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. One month has fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for it. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 58 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Acacia adansonii Guill. & Perr.
  • Acacia adonsonii Guill. & Perr.
  • Acacia adstringens (Schumach.) Berhaut
  • Acacia aegyptiaca Baill.
  • Acacia arabica (Lam.) Willd.
  • Acacia arabica var. adansoniana Dubard
  • Acacia arabica var. adansonii (Guill. & Perr.) A.Chev.
  • Acacia arabica var. adstringens (Schumach.) Baker f.
  • Acacia arabica var. cupressiformis J.L.Stewart
  • Acacia arabica var. indica Benth.
  • Acacia arabica var. kraussiana Benth.
  • Acacia arabica var. nilotica (L.) Benth.
  • Acacia arabica var. tomentosa Benth.
  • Acacia arabica var. vediana T.Cooke
  • Acacia bambolah H.Karst.
  • Acacia benthamiana Rochebr.
  • Acacia benthamii Rochebr.
  • Acacia nebneb Adans.
  • Acacia neboueb Baill.
  • Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. ex Delile
  • Acacia nilotica subsp. adansonii (Guill. & Perr.) Brenan
  • Acacia nilotica subsp. adstringens (Schumach.) Roberty
  • Acacia nilotica subsp. cupressiformis (J.L.Stewart) Ali & Faruqi
  • Acacia nilotica subsp. hemispherica Ali & Faruqi

and 34 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol VANI4. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.