In order for the Acacia tree to flourish and produce high quality Gum Arabic. This tree species has to grow in slightly loamy sand, light sandy soil and skeletal soils or lithosols although it prefers the coarse-texture soils like fossil dunes, with 300-400mm annual rainfall. This can also grow in places that receive an annual rainfall of 100-950mm yet these extremes might reduce the gum production. This can also tolerate as much as 11 months of drought. This can survive temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius, sandstorms and dry wind but cannot survive frost. The perfect sites for this species have 5-8 pH. The altitude basically ranges from 100-1,700m above sea level in Sudan to 1,950m around Nakuru in Kenya.

A small tree or a low branching shrub to 7m high flows during rainy season as well as loses its leaves during dry season. Once water is available at great dept, the tree grows bigger than normal, and deeply penetrating the tap roots, which could develop. The Acacia Senegal’s bark is yellow to brown as well as smooth in the young tree, which becomes cracked, gnarled, and dark grey on the older trees.  This is also armed with re-curved prickles just below such nodes, in groups of three or in pairs.

The use of gum acacia or gum Arabic that is extracted from the bark’s exudates, dates way back 3400 BC. It was also used in ink’s production that was made from a combination of gum, water, and carbon.  But, today, the gum is present in various different everyday products.