In the harsh, dry landscapes where few plants survive, one tree stands tall - the acacia. In this episode, we explore how ...

The acacia was the only tree for 250 miles in Niger’s Sahara desert and was used as a landmark by travelers and caravans. Rachel Nuwer. October 24, 2013. Get our newsletter!

A moderate-to-fast-growing small evergreen (evergray?) tree, the purple-leaf acacia reaches 20 to 30 feet tall and wide. Its dense, spreading canopy is easily shaped as a single- or multi-trunk tree.

The acacia tree has an expected lifespan of 15 to 30 years. So when a 320-year-old tree fell in the village of Balambala in northeast Kenya last week, locals were understandably distraught.

The Blackwood Acacia grows fast and aggressively to a dense 40 feet tall by 20 wide evergreen tree, whose branches are often brittle. The bark is dark gray and furrowed.