Senegaliya / Black Catechu
Acacia caesia
Also known as Soap Bark
- Habit
- Liana
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- June-April
How to identify Senegaliya
Identify Senegaliya by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a liana habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Scrambling climbing habit with hooked thorns.
- Confirm leaf shape: Feathery bipinnate leaflets.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: June-April.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Mimosaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Senegaliya.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Acacia caesia
- Genus
- Acacia
- Family
- Mimosaceae
- Habit
- Liana
- Habitat
- River banks, wasteland, scrub jungles and along hill slopes. Foot hills of evergreen and semi-Evergreen forests
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malesia
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Odisha, Bihar, Daman & Diu, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Nagaland
- Flowering & fruiting
- June-April
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Feathery bipinnate leafletsrecorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Senegaliya itself; the rest are typical of the Mimosaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Head
- Fruit
- Legume
Typical of the Mimosaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Tamil
- ஈங்கை
- Malayalam
- ഇഞ്ച, Acacia caesia
- Hindi
- सेनेगालिया senegaliya
About Senegaliya
A member of the Mimosaceae family, Black Catechu (Acacia caesia) is a woody climber. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and 26 other states. It grows in river banks, wasteland, scrub jungles and along hill slopes. Foot hills of evergreen and semi-Evergreen forests. Flowering and fruiting run from June to April.
Mimosaceae
Mimosa/Acacia family
Senegaliya belongs to the Mimosaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Mimosaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides