Babool
Acacia nilotica
Babool is a medium to large tree, native to West Asia, that can reach a height of 10 m, with an average of 4-7 m in height. The bark is blackish grey or dark brown in mature trees and deeply grooved, with longitudinal fissures. Paired, slender, straight spines grow from a single base and sometimes curve backwards, are up to 80 mm long and whitish but often reddish brown in colour. The leaves are twice compound, i.e. they consist of 5-11 feather-like pairs of pinnae; each pinna is further divided into 7-25 pairs of small, elliptic leaflets that can be bottle to bright green in colour. Flowers are bright yellow, numerous, in fluffy globular heads 1.2 cm diameter, usually in clusters of 2 to 6, on individual pubescent axillary stalks 1.5 to 2 cm long.
Gum Arabic