Senegalia ataxacantha, commonly known as the flame thorn, is an African tree species with conspicuous red pods and numerous hooked prickles.

In arid regions it prefers low-lying sites near streams, watercourses and in valleys, but in higher rainfall areas is a common constituent of the bush, often favouring forest margins.

Its normal habit is that of a multi-stemmed, untidy, large shrub with a tendency for the shoots to scramble using their recurved prickles, and often develops into a single-stemmed tree of 5-10m in height and 300mm trunk diameter.

[1] The timber, resembling that of Acacia melanoxylon, often has heart rot, but when sound is of good quality and handsomely streaked in black, dark brown, purple and cream, with markedly contrasting off-white sapwood.

The appearance of this species may be confused with Senegalia afra which differs by having paired prickles, stouter pods and greyish-green markedly pendent foliage.