Safed Keekar is native to Delhi’s historical open scrubland.
This moderate to large sized thorny deciduous tree has characteristic of dry regions, hardy and drought-resistant, adapting to dry, rocky, sandy soils.
The Ronjh’s (Acacia leucophloea) crooked trunk and light yellowish-grey to nearly white bark, has given it the species name leucophloea, in which leuco means white.
The tree is also often referred to as the White-barked acacia or Safed Keekar, for the same reason.
The tree has the tendency to form a spreading crown. It is not just drought-hardy, but is also able to survive in fires and frost, making it one of the most adaptable native trees found in the Indian subcontinent.
The timber is not of great value, but the hardness of the wood saw it being used extensively in semi-rural and rural areas for posts and beams, carts and their wheels, agricultural instruments and also for fuel.
Herdsmen in drier areas of the country, including deserts, use their leaves as dry-season fodder, considering the dearth of food in the region at the time.
The tree has proved useful in several ways, its leaves yield a black dye, while the inner bark is used to make a red-brown dye and its fibre is used for making ropes and fishing nets.
The bark and the gum from the tree are used in traditional medicine to treat bronchitis and asthma.
The bark is often used to distil liquor, a reason for the tree’s other interesting name: Distiller’s Acacia or Sharab ki Keekar.
The Ronjh can be seen on The Ridge, Hauz Khas, Vasant Kunj and the tree-rich old JNU campus. Apart from the old trees.
