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Senegalia catechu
Also called Black Catechu, Catechu, Cutch Tree, Khairtree, Cutchtree
Black cutch is a deciduous, thorny tree up to about 15 m tall, grown mainly for the extracts cutch and catechu. It is a tree for open, seasonally dry tropical sites rather than a houseplant.
Senegalia catechu, previously known as Acacia catechu, is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to 15 m (50 ft) in height. The plant is called kachu in Malay; the Malay name was Latinized to "catechu" in Linnaean taxonomy, as the species from which the extracts cutch and catechu are derived. Other common names for it include kher, catechu, cachou, cutchtree, black cutch, and black catechu.
Senegalia catechu is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Cambodia and China (Yunnan).
The tree can be propagated by planting its seeds, which are soaked in hot water first. After about six months in a nursery, the seedlings can be planted in the field.
Senegalia pennata · Berlandier Acacia · Catclaw Acacia · Senegalia laeta · Senegalia megaladena · Black Thorn · Falcon's Claw Acacia · White Thorn · Soap Pod · Gum Arabic
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Senegalia catechu by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
