This is a real pioneer and is able to colonize overgrazed veld or disturbed areas very quickly. Fire will kill young saplings, but it is a tree of this continent and has adapted to surviving fire most effectively. The first woody species to reappear after a fire is often this tree.

One has heard or read of the story that these trees react to browsing animals by increasing the concentration of unpalatable and even toxic chemicals in the leaves to prevent browsing animals, like giraffe and kudu, from over exploiting the leaves of a clump of these trees. All these strategies help to ensure the survival of the tree under the harsh conditions that they grow.

The bright yellow, pompon flowers are sweet scented and rich in nectar, making it a great tree for bees and butterflies. Birds and mammals eat the flowers. When the sickle-shaped pods appear, animals eat them. Birds like Southern Black Tits can be seen prizing the pods apart to get at the insect grubs that are eating the seeds within the pods. The insects attracted to the trees bring in warblers by the dozen, to feed, especially during late summer and autumn when the migratory warblers are loading up food reserves, just before the long trip back up the African continent, to their breeding grounds in Europe.

The gum from damaged bark is eaten by Vervet and Samango Monkeys during the day and at night the Thick-tailed Galagos or Bushbabies take over. Along the Zululand coast the Galago will virtually camp at a tree that is exuding gum from its damaged bark.

The roots of these trees produce nitrogen manufactured by the bacteria in the nodules, helping to increase soil fertility, and thus stronger plants of other species growing near them.