Common name: Gum Arabic, बबूल Babool (Hindi), कीकर Kikar (Hindi), बबूल Babul (Marathi), Nalla tumma (Telugu), Babli (Kannada), Karivelam (Malayalam), கறுவேளை kaRuvELai (Tamil), Babaria (Gujarati)
Botanical name: Acacia nilotica subsp. indica Family: Mimosaceae (Touch-me-not family)
Babool is a medium to large tree, native to West Asia, that can reach a height
of 10 m, with an average of 4-7
m in height. The crown is somewhat flattened or rounded, with a moderate
density. The branches have a tendency to droop downwards if the crown is
roundish. The bark is blackish grey or dark brown in mature trees and deeply
grooved, with longitudinal fissures. The young branches are smooth and grey to
brown in colour. The young twigs are covered in short hairs. Paired, slender,
straight spines grow from a single base and sometimes curve backwards, are up
to 80 mm long and whitish but often reddish brown in colour. The leaves are
twice compound, i.e. they consist of 5-11 feather-like pairs of pinnae; each
pinna is further divided into 7-25 pairs of small, elliptic leaflets that can
be bottle to bright green in colour. Flowers are bright yellow, numerous, in
fluffy globular heads 1.2 cm diameter, usually in clusters of 2 to 6, on
individual pubescent axillary stalks 1.5 to 2 cm long.
| Photographed in Sundar Nursery, Delhi. |
|
aturalized
