Virginia Tech Dendrology

winter thorn Fabaceae Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev. symbol: FAAL
Leaf: Alternate, deciduous, to 6 inches long, bipinnately compound, with up to 12 pairs of pinnae each with up to 25 pairs of elliptical leaflets, gray-green above and below; each leaflet to 1/2 inch; glands present at the base of each leaflet pair.
Flower: Species is monoecious; pale yellow in tight elongated, showy clusters, 2 to 3 inches long, fragrant, appearing in spring and early summer.
Fruit: A very distinctive, to 10 inches long, flattened, orange-brown, leathery pod that becomes dry and twisted like an apple ring (apple ring acacia is another common name); pod contains many oval, dark brown, shiny seeds, 1/3 inch long, maturing in late summer and early fall.
Twig: Prominantly zig-zag, gray, bearing paired white-gray thorns to 2 inches long; lateral buds are very small and sunken.
Bark: Gray-brown, initially smooth, developing scaly-topped ridges and furrows.
Form: A large tree with a broad crown, to 100 feet tall.

Additional Range Information: Faidherbia albida is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information