This might be new or old, I don’t know. The last time I searched the latin name Vachellia karroo around Dec 2025, the search came up with the common name Sweetthorn, which is the name I’ve known this tree by since stepping onto one of those nice long thorns as a child. Today it returns a Southern Ndebele name I don’t know and it took a couple of clicks to get the common name I do know. I’ve not changed language settings, so my lexicon for common names should default to English like it always does. I’m nowhere near a locale where Southern Ndebele is endemic, in fact, for where I am right now, the Afrikaans name (95% of the population) should come up if this was locale dependent.
I would prefer the English common names to come up as it always used to be. What must I change?
Thanks for bringing up this problem. Im begiining to understand and shall remove the offending Ndebele ( southern) name and hope the problem is solved. Sorry @jeanelz
It happens to me too sometimes, I get the names in German, once in what I suppose was Chinese ( I recognise Japanese so not that…) and I think 2-3 in Dutch or other germanic type language, I never had Greek so far
It is the most ubiquitous tree in southern Africa, across virtually all veld types, through many cultures, and it has many uses. So it’s going to have many names!
I want the iconic thorn trees of Africa to get their thorn back ! Acacia, not Vachellia (plant collector in China !?)
PZA still derives the OLD name
Derivation of name and historical aspects
The name Acacia is derived from Greek “akis” a point or barb
Derivation of name and historical aspects
The genus Vachellia is named after Rev. George Harvey Vachell (1789–1839), who was a chaplain to the British East India Company in Macau and a plant collector in China.
We have 92 ‘Wild’ obs on the Cape Peninsula but ? and 39 which know they are planted.
I know your frustration ! But after about 5 years Ive got used to vachellias ( with long white thorns) and senegallias ( with only short curved thorns). I hope my crude classification is correct for our indigenous species in Africa.
. Thanks for the fix!