Camel thorn

With its umbrella-shaped crown, the camel thorn is the tree of the Kalahari – it gives shade, fodder for animals and some of the region’s best firewood.

Vachellia erioloba is a tree of the legume family growing 15–20 m tall, with a broad, umbrella-shaped crown and dark, deeply fissured bark. The branches are armed with pairs of straight white thorns, often swollen at the base. Golden, globe-shaped flower heads appear in late winter and spring, followed by thick, crescent-shaped pods covered in grey hairs, which cattle and wild animals eagerly eat. Long roots reach groundwater several tens of metres down, allowing the tree to survive on the Kalahari dunes.

Significance in the country

The mogotlho is one of the most characteristic trees of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana – people and animals rest in its shade, and sociable weavers build huge communal nests in its branches. The wood is very hard and makes excellent, long-burning firewood, so overharvesting around settlements has become a problem.

Where it grows

Grows on the Kalahari sands of western and central Botswana – in Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Kweneng, Southern and Central districts (including the Central Kalahari Game Reserve) and in the south of North-West District.

More: Wikipedia (en)