Acacia

Acacia is a common food source and host plant for butterflies of the genus Jalmenus. The imperial hairstreak, Jalmenus evagoras, feeds on at least 25 acacia species.[31] Many reptiles feed on the sap, such as the native house gecko in Australia.[32] The sap is also consumed by bugs (Hemiptera), such as Hackerobrachys viridiventris[33] and Sextius virescens.[34]

acacia

The hardened sap of various species of the acacia tree (sensu lato) are known as acacia gum. Acacia gum is used as an emulsifier in food, a binder for watercolour painting, an additive to ceramic glazes, a binding in gum bichromate photography, a protective layer in the lithographic processes and as a binder to bind together fireworks.

"Acacia honey" is not collected from plants in the acacia family, but rather from Robinia pseudoacacia, known as black locust in North America. Honey collected from Caragana arborescens is sometimes also called (yellow) acacia honey. (See also Monofloral honey.)

Acacia (in a broader sense) is repeatedly mentioned in the Book of Exodus, perhaps referring to Vachellia tortilis (previously known as Acacia raddiana), in regards to the construction of the Tabernacle.[41]In Exodus 25:10, acacia wood is mentioned as the construction material for the Ark of the Covenant.

jsoncini@acaciares.com(332) 236-8507Jason Soncini joined Acacia as General Counsel in March 2021. From April 2017 until he joined Acacia, Mr. Soncini was employed at Shanda Group, a privately-owned multinational investment firm, initially as Deputy General Counsel and then as General Counsel. From October 2013 until April 2017, Mr. Soncini was an attorney at Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C. Mr. Soncini began his legal career at Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP in 2006. Mr. Soncini received his J.D. from Northwestern University and holds a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan.

Some species of Acacia include a psychoactive alkaloid in the leaves, seed pods, flowers, or stems. The psychoactive agent, known as DMT (dimethyltryptamine), is a powerful but short-lived hallucinogen that has been used for spiritual purposes by indigenous peoples. Acacia maidenii, Acacia phlebophylla, and Acacia obtusifolia are all species known to contain this psychoactive substance. Accidental ingestion to a degree that produces psychoactive effects is very rare, but it has been suggested that you should use caution not to breathe the smoke when burning brush that that contains acacia plants. Some species also bear sharply modified stems or thorns which can be useful for preventing access in certain locations. If you choose a thorny variety be sure to place it away from high traffic areas.

Acacias can be tall trees or low-growing shrubs. People admire the feathery, compound leaves of some acacias; small leaflets are arranged in rows, one on each side a leaf's midrib, and each of those leaflets is further divided in the same fashion. This gives the leaves of these acacias a delicate, fern-like look. In many varieties from dry areas, though, compound leaves are replaced by flattened leaf stalks, called phyllodes, that look like long, simple leaves. The reduced surface area of a phyllode is an adaptation for conserving water. Even acacias with phyllodes, though, start out with lacy, compound leaves when they are young.

In many acacias, long, sharp thorns hide among the leaves. While thorns may discourage some predators, they're no match for the talented tongue of a giraffe. With its long, prehensile tongue, a giraffe avoids acacia thorns to grasp even the most delicate of leaves.

Examine the ingredients list of your favorite gum, candy, or soft drink, and you might see the term "gum arabic." This water-soluble emulsifier and stabilizer comes from the hardened sap of various African acacias, and it's just one of the many products we get from acacias. This group of trees and shrubs also yields flavorings, wood pulp, cellulose, perfumes, cut flowers, oils, tannins, dyes, fodder, timber, and fuel.

You may know that beans and peas are legumes, but you may not know that acacias are legumes, too. Like other legumes, acacias are able to take in and assimilate nitrogen directly from the atmosphere, with the aid of soil bacteria that live in nodules on the plant roots. As acacia leaves fall, they release that nitrogen back into the earth, enriching the soil.

The FDA established a definition for dietary fiber in its 2016 Nutrition Facts label final rule. Based on available evidence, the FDA has determined that the scientific evidence supports that gum acacia can help reduce blood glucose and insulin levels after it is eaten with a meal containing a carbohydrate that raises blood glucose levels.

With this current notification for gum acacia, 18 categories of non-digestible carbohydrates (including a broad category of mixed plant cell wall fibers) are either included in the definition of dietary fiber, or are non-digestible carbohydrates that the FDA intends to propose to be added to the definition of dietary fiber (see Questions and Answers on Dietary Fiber for a list).

Native to the eastern U.S., the acacia, or black locust tree, has lush, cool green foliage, flat pods that hold their seeds and clusters of sweet, cream-coloured flowers. Cultivated in Europe since the 17th Century, the tree can live for over 300 years. Today, in Paris, you can still see two unique specimens, planted by King Henri IV's gardener back in 1601.

Acacia trees, particularly A. raddiana are in decline [27], [28]; the total mortality of acacia trees in the Arava Rift Valley may be as high as 61% over 14 years [9], [27]. This is primarily due to water stress, low recruitment of young acacia seedling and loss/change of habitat and water flow patterns [9], [27]. As acacia trees rely predominantly on surface water, the latter factor is of great concern [29]. Additionally, there is a significant decline in annual precipitation, which is likely to have a negative effect on mortality and recruitment of acacias [30]. Rohner and Ward [23] predict that loss of acacia trees in the Middle East would lead to a significant loss of biodiversity in the region.Despite the wealth of research on the ecology of acacia trees it is almost completely unknown how and to what degree bats and their nocturnal arthropod prey might utilize acacia trees. Vaughan and Vaughan [31] found that the central African bat Lavia frons uses A. tortilis and occasionally A. elatior as a night roost from which to forage, and suggest that the bats are feeding on insects that are attracted to acacia trees. In Australia Vespadelus pumilus selectively roost in A. melanoxylon despite their relative rarity in the area [32]. Moreover, surveys of bats in the Sinai [33], Kenya [34] and Swaziland [35] found bat foraging activity at sites that contained acacia trees. None of these papers examined a specific interaction between bats and acacia trees, nor was there any explicit comparison to other available foraging habitats.

A is dense acacia stands, S is sparse acacia stands, B is barren acacia stands, N is non-acacia desert sites, V is village sites and D is date plantations. The five replicates of each habitat type are numbered one to five from north to south (Reprinted with permission from Esri, original copyright 2012).

As we predicted, artificially irrigated and lit man-made habitats did have high arthropod abundance and bat activity. Date palms supported a greater abundance of arthropods than dense green acacias, while village sites and dense green acacias had equally high levels of bat activity. Moreover, arthropod and bat species richness for both date palms and village sites did not differ significantly from dense green acacias. These findings support the observation that for some species of bat, man-made habitats can, in fact, act as an alternative foraging resource [6].

Of particular interest are two additional rare species that were only recorded outside our analysed sampling period, but exclusively at dense green acacia sites: B. leucomelas and N. thebaica. B. leucomelas has been caught only five times before in Israel. We have recorded it five times at three different dense green acacia tree sites. As they are so rare, nothing is known about habitat selection of B. leucomelas and this is the first occurrence of consistent recordings in the region. N. thebaica is a generalist/opportunistic feeder [49], [66] found foraging in open savannah woodland areas [66]. It is also a whispering bat, hunting in flight or from a perch [66], [67]. As these two as well as P. christii and O. hemprichii are presumed whispering bats with low intensity calls, they will have been under sampled and in fact be more prevalent in the area than determined by acoustic monitoring [68]. 041b061a72