INTORDUCTION TO BABUL TREE

 INTRODUCTION TO BABUL TREE

Family = Leguminosae            Scientific name = Acacia arabica

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Common names - 

1. Gum Arabic
2. Kikar or Babul in Hindi
3. Babla in Bengali
4. Karu-valam in Tamil and Malayalam
5. Baval in Gujarati

Growing areas - 

1. Originated in India and also in some parts of Africa.

                                   Babul tree in Africa                                                            

Babul tree in India

        2. Tree are very hardy, needs little moisture and grows well in dry areas.

        3.These trees also grow on wet land near the sea.

Babul tree near the sea on the wet land

General Information - 

1. It grows in two types of sizes as a small plant and then spreading to a very large tree.
2. It is evergreen tree and grows very slowly.
3. In less areas it grows in uneven manner and untidy way.
4. It has dark brown bark which is cracked and uneven.
5. Lower parts of the tree is often covered with the silvery white and dangerous thorns which prevent the cattle eating the lower branches.
6. Often the upper branches have no thorns at all.
7. These trees are the favourite home of the stripped squirrel, the weaver bird and many other birds and animals, because the thorns protect them form intruders.

                           The weaver bird's nest on the Babul tree                           

 Indian palm stripped squirrel on the tree

      8. The Lahtora Grey shrike or the Butcher bird uses the thorns to store it's food. It pierces and hangs the insects it catches onto the thorns so that it can eat them later.

The Butcher Bird hanging it's prey.