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 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.

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.