''Vachellia robusta'', the splendid thorn, is an

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

tree species. It is native to eastern and southern Africa, ranging from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

in the north to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

in southern Africa.''Vachellia robusta'' (Burch.) Kyal. & Boatwr.
''Plants of the World Online'', Kew Science. Accessed 10 December 2020.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are accepted: * ''Vachellia robusta'' subsp. ''clavigera'' (E.Mey.) Kyal. & Boatwr. – native to Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, and South Africa. * ''Vachellia robusta'' subsp. ''robusta'' – native to South Africa, Botswana, and western Zimbabwe. * ''Vachellia robusta'' subsp. ''usambarensis'' (Taub.) Kyal. & Boatwr. – native to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique.''Vachellia robusta'' subsp. ''usambarensis'' (Taub.) Kyal. & Boatwr.
''Plants of the World Online'', Kew Science. Accessed 10 December 2022. It is a common canopy tree in drier undifferentiated forest communities in the Northern and Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic of coastal Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique, where it grows up to 20 meters high.White, Frank F. (1983). ''The vegetation of Africa: A descriptive memoir to accompany the Unesco/AETFAT/UNSO vegetation map of Africa''. UNESCO, 1983. ISBN 92-3-101955-4

Gallery

Acacia robusta, loof, Buffelsdrift, a.jpg, Acacia robusta01.jpg, Acacia robusta02.jpg,

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q43375465, from2=Q9568718 robusta Trees of Southern Africa Flora of East Africa