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Senegalia berlandieri

Botanical Name

Senegalia berlandieri (Bentham) Britton & Rose

Common Name(s)

  • Berlandier's acacia
  • guajillo (Spanish)

Synonyms

Legume Clades

Caesalpinioideae , Mimosoid Clade , Core Mimosoids , Ingoid Clade , Senegalia

Native Geographic Range

  • Southwestern North America

IUCN Status

LC (Least concern)
See IUCN Red List Assessment

Growth Form

shrub

Cultivation Status in AZ

Occasionally cultivated

Description

Evergreen or tardily deciduous shrubs to 6 m high, usually with numerous stems from the crown. The stems are sparingly armed with small prickles and have smooth, gray bark. Leaves are bipinnate with 7--19 pair of pinnae, with 25--55 pairs of leaflets per pinna. Solitary or branched inflorescences of spherical white flower heads develop near the tips of the stems in spring.

Habitat

Native to southern Texas and parts of northeastern and central Mexico where the plants occur on ridges, slopes, and plains in thornscrub, grassland, and occasionally in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Uses

The foliage is browsed to some extent by livestock but excessive consumption can cause potentially fatal poisoning. Flowers are considered excellent bee forage for honey production.

Horticulture

Berlandier's acacia is appreciated for its ferny foliage and attractive, fragrant flowers. It can be planted as a screen. Plants remain evergreen except in prolonged drought or following a severe freeze. Occasional irrigation helps to maintain appearance. Plants are hardy to 16° F (-9° C). The leaflets and fruits can be a litter issue in some situations. Efforts to prune the plant into a tree with a single trunk require many years of effort as this species readily produces new shoots from the crown.