Vachellia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias.

[4] Before discovery of the New World, Europeans in the Mediterranean region were familiar with several species of Vachellia, which they knew as sources of medicine, and had names for them that they inherited from the Greeks and Romans[clarification needed].

[6] In parts of Africa, Vachellia species are shaped progressively by grazing animals of increasing size and height, such as gazelle, gerenuk, and giraffe.

[10] However, some members of the botanical community remain unconvinced,[11] and the use of Acacia in the scientific literature continues to exceed the use of the new generic names.

V. tortilis, Vachellia hebeclada [Wikidata], V. luederitzii and V. reficiens) are also armed with paired, recurved prickles (in addition to the spines).

The yellow or creamy white flowers are produced in spherical heads, or seldom in elongate spikes, which is the general rule in the related genus Senegalia.