🌳 Tree
ANX-TREE-0000002
Apple-ring Acacia
Faidherbia albida
Apple-ring Acacia (Faidherbia albida), a nitrogen-fixing, fodder, agroforestry tree of the Fabaceae family.
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Tree type
- Nitrogen-fixing, Fodder, Agroforestry
- Mature height (m)
- 6-30
- Growth rate
- Slow to medium
- Lifespan (years)
- 70-100+
- Native region
- Africa and the Middle East.
Environment
Growing Conditions
- Climate requirements
- Semi-arid to sub-humid tropics; tolerant of both drought and seasonal flooding.
- Soil types
- Deep, well-drained alluvial soils preferred, but tolerant of a range of soil types.
- Water requirements
- Deep-rooted and highly drought-tolerant once established; often found near seasonal watercourses.
Cultivation
Planting & Care
- Planting guide
- Direct-seeded or transplanted as young seedlings, typically at wide spacing (8-10m) within cropland since it is intercropped, not grown in blocks.
- Care guide
- Very low maintenance; occasional pruning to manage canopy shape and reduce shading during the wet season.
Phenology
Flowering & Fruiting
- Flowering season
- Cream-white flower spikes at the start of the dry season
- Fruiting season
- Distinctive curled, apple-ring-shaped pods, a valuable dry-season livestock feed
Value
Uses & Economic Importance
- Uses
- Nitrogen fixation for intercropped cereals, livestock fodder (pods and leaves), fuelwood, and shade.
- Economic importance
- A cornerstone agroforestry species across the African Sahel and East Africa due to its unique 'reverse phenology' - it is leafless during the wet season (when crops need full sun) and in full leaf during the dry season (providing fodder and shade when nothing else is green).
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