in South Africa, and now forms the basis of a small but significant industry (De Wit et al, 2001). Acacia mearnsii can tolerate an annual precipitation between 6.6 – 22.8 ( d HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dm" eci HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dm" m eter), an annual mean temperature of 14.7 - 27.8 °C, and a pH