Senegalia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the Mimosoid clade. Until 2005, its species were considered members of Acacia. The genus was considered polyphyletic and required further division with the genera Parasenegalia and Pseudosenegalia accepted soon after. Senegalia can be distinguished from other acacias by its spicate inflorescences and non-spinescent stipules. Plants in the genus are native to the tropical and subtropical areas of the world, occurring on the Australian, Asian, African and South and North American continents, as well as in Wallacea.

Senegalia burkei, previously known as Acacia burkei and commonly known as Black Monkey-thorn or Swartapiesdoring, is a distinctive deciduous tree that can be identified easily throughout the year. It has spikes of creamy white flowers in early summer, followed by bright red seed pods. It is a large, spreading, deciduous tree, from 12 m up to 25 m tall, with a rounded, flattened or open crown. The branches often have dark, hooked thorns on knobs. Senegalia burkei is found in south-eastern Botswana and south-eastern Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, and indigenous to South Africas Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces. It occurs on a variety of soil types and on rocky slopes in the dry river valley scrub, thornveld or in mixed woodland. This species used to be known as Acacia burkei. The name Acacia is derived from the Greek word akakia, the name for the Egyptian thorn, probably derived from the word ake meaning a point. The genus Acacia has been retypified and split, with the result that all the African acacias now fall into the recently defined genera: Vachellia or Senegalia. The genus Senegalia means referring to Senegal in Africa. The name was first published by Rafinesque in 1838, but it is not clear why the name was chosen. The species name burkei, refers to the naturalist and collector, Joseph Burke (1812 to 1873), who catalogued this tree in the 1840s, and collected specimens of it near Magaliesberg.