Black Thorn

mellifera: honey-bearing; referring to the fact that the flowers attract many bees; detinens; detaining, holding back, referring to the fact that the strongly hooked thorns will catch the clothes or skin of any one passin

Shrub or small tree. Young branches with distinct white lenticels; strongly hooked prickles in pairs at the nodes. Leaves c. 3 × 2 cm with 2-3 pairs of pinnae, each only with 1-2 pairs of leaflets; leaflets obovate, asymmetric, up to 2 × 1.5 cm, blue-green. Flowers in axillary clusters of subspherical or very shortly elongate heads, white, sweetly scented. Pod up to 9 × 2.5 cm, papery, straight, smooth, straw-coloured, dehiscent.

From Tanzania to Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and northern S Africa.