Acacia

Acacia senegal, now classified as Senegalia senegal, in Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1897). The plate shows a flowering branch, flowers, pod and seeds.

Acacia is a plant name used in botanical, biblical and Masonic writing. These uses need to be distinguished: older books apply the name to species that modern botanists may place in other genera. For example, Kew accepts Senegalia senegal as the name of the gum-arabic tree formerly called Acacia senegal.

Botanical names and materials

Senegalia senegal belongs to the pea family, Fabaceae. Kew describes its native range as tropical and southern Africa extending to India, and its growth form as a shrub or tree. Its gum has uses in food preparation, crafts and cosmetics.

Biblical reference

Exodus 25:10–22 specifies acacia wood for the Ark of the Covenant and its carrying poles, with gold covering the wood. This is part of the biblical account of the sanctuary's construction.

Masonic interpretation

Albert G. Mackey's The Symbolism of Freemasonry interprets the sprig of acacia chiefly as an emblem of the immortality of the soul, and also discusses innocence. His account belongs to nineteenth-century Masonic symbolic literature, rather than botanical evidence.

The name also appears in the separate American collegiate organisation Acacia Fraternity. Its own history traces its foundation in 1904 to members of a Masonic club at the University of Michigan. It states that its present Masonic ties are informal and symbolic, and that Masonic membership is not required to join.

See also

• The Ark of The Covenant
• The Lost Word
• Masonic museums and libraries