Variation in Acacia senegal and its relationship with Acacia circummaginata and Acacia thomasii in Kenya
1994
Gachathi, Francis N. M. | Mr. Trapnell, C. G. (Funding) | Dr. Keith-Lucas, D. M. (supervisor) | Dr. Jury, S. L. (supervisor)
After many years of field work in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya (ASALs), the author has found it most challenging to undertake a project based on the most dominant, most distinctive and most important yet least taxonomically understood component of this fragile ecosystem, the Acacias. Acacia Senegal is an economically important species as the source of gum Arabic used in food-based and allied industries. Apart from growing in association with other Acacia species, which also produce gum, the present recognized varieties within A. senegal display a bewildering array of growth forms constituting to what has come to be known as the Acacia Senegal complex. At present delimitation of members of this complex greatly relies on the habit of living plants. This entails not only detailed field notes to facilitate delimitation of the taxa but the required information on habit and the habitat before the specimens get to the herbarium. The aim of this project was therefore an attempt to review the range of variation within A. senegal in a determined effort to identify useful delimitation characters, re-evaluate the relationship of A. senegal to A. circummaginata and A. thomasii by combining field observations of living members of A. senegal complex in Kenya and examination of herbarium specimens from the entire range occurrence.
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