• Family : FABACEAE
  (PEA OR BEAN FAMILY)
• Family (as per The Plant List) : Leguminosae
• Subfamily : Mimosoideae
• Species : Acacia nilotica
• Subspecies : indica
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Acacia nilotica subsp. indica (Benth.) Brenan
• Common name : Babool Acacia, Indian Gum Arabic, Black Babool Tree
• Vernacular name : Babul, Babur, Kikar (Hin.); Kari jaali, Gobli (Kan.); Karuvaelam (Tam.); Nalla-tumma (Tel.); Babur, Bambur, Babullo (Ori.); Barburah, Vavari (San.)
• Key identification features : A medium-sized deciduous tree that is armed with sharp, long spines. Bark is dark brown, rough, thick, deeply-ridged and with longitudinal fissures, turning spirally up the tree. Exudes a good edible gum when wounded. Blaze pinkish-brown. Leaves are alternate, twice compound with a pair of spines at their base. Leaflets are small, up to 24 pairs attached to the secondary rachis. Flowers are tiny and clustered in bright-yellow globose heads. Pods are long, greyish with constrictions between one-seeded portions.
• Habit : Tree
• Flower, Fruit : August-April
• Native : Indian sub-continent
• Comments : In plains along agricultural margins, mostly by arable lands.
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Distribution Locality : Tiruvannamalai district, Kolli Hills (Namakkal district), Tiruchirapalli district, Salem district (Tamil Nadu State); Srikakulam district, East Godavari district, West Godavari district, Prakasham district, Kurnool district, Visakhapatnam district, Kadapa district (Andhra Pradesh State); Ganjam district, Koraput district, Cuttack district, Puri district, Sambalpur district, Similipal Hills (Mayurbhanj district) (Odisha State)
• World Distribution : Indian sub-continent; Introduced in Africa, Australasia
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2001 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 2; J.L.Ellis, 1987- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 1; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1 ; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District ; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District ; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipal, Orissa; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Arun Singh R., Deepak Kumar, Raja K Swamy and Navendu Page (2016). Digital Flora of Eastern Ghats. http://easternghats.ces.iisc.ernet.in/plants.php?name=Acacia nilotica subsp. indica. Downloaded on 3 February 2025.

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