Dichrostachys cinerea

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

  • Botanical Name : Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Arn.
  • Synonyms : Mimosa cinerea L.
  • Common Name : Mordhundhyu, Sickle Bush
  • Plant Family : Mimosaceae
  • Plant Form : Shrub
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Van Chetana Kendra

About Dichrostachys cinerea Plant :

  • Habit : A much-branched thorny shrub with bark light-coloured, furrowed; branchlets ending in spines.
  • Leaves : Bipinnate, main rachis more or less softly pubescent, with a small erect gland between each pair of pinnae, stipulate, ligules subulate from a triangular base, leaflets minute, sessile, 12-20 pairs, close, linear, oblique, subacute.
  • Inflorescence : Axillary or extra-axillary spikes, with the upper half of the spike yellow and the lower red.
  • Flowers :
    • Numerous with membranous calyx, long corolla. Stamens of the perfect flowers in the upper half of the spike yellow.
    • Staminodes in the lower half of the spike much longer than the stamens, red.
  • Fruits :
    • Pods 2-3, glabrous, flat, subarticulated, dark brown, twisted up when ripe.
    • Seeds 6-10.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : July-December
  • Significance : It is a beautiful flowered plant often planted along edges due to thorny nature.