A genus apart

I have been following the Acacia saga from afar. (I live in Melbourne having left South Africa many years ago). I was born in South Africa and lived there for 36 years and as they say, you can take a person out of Africa, but you cannot take Africa out of that person and I am very sad indeed that our beloved and iconic thorn trees can no longer be called Acacia. Having nurtured them in my Johannesburg garden from seedlings and watched as they gradually assumed the characteristic flat-topped shape, I know they have no equal outside of Africa. The new generic name Vachellia leaves much to be desired. However, another way to look at it, our splendid African acacias deserve to be a genus apart from the scrappy Australian trees that now have sole right to the name Acacia. It was insulting to the stately African acacias to have had to share a genus with the shapeless Australian wattles!
Alex Teare, Melbourne

See How we lost the African acacias on page 26 of the March 2012 issue of Veld & Flora. (Or click here to read).