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 | Leaves  Bloody Basin RdSue Smith
 | Flowers  Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | Seed pods  Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  |  |  |   | 
 Origin: Native  Similar Species: Wright acacia
 General Description: Deciduous. Long-lived spreading and thicket forming shrub or small tree.  Heavily armed with curved spines.  Highly adapted to harsh desert conditions.
 Identification notes: Flowers densely clustered on cylindrical spikes, having more than 10 stamens; flat, curled, green seedpods dry to a dark brown color; leaves are grayish-green with oval leaflets; branches have wickedly sharp, curved, cat claw-like thorns.
 Height: 23 feet     Width:  15 feet
 
 
 
 
 Habitat Description: Flats, washes and slopes. Often forming thickets along streams and washes.
 Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Riparian
 Elevation: 0 - 4500 feet
 
 
 
 
 Color: Pale yellow   Shape: Irregular in elongated clusters	
           	   Tubular: N   Flowering Period:  Apr - Oct
 Description: Dense, fragrant, catkin (cylindrical spike) to 2-1/2 inches long.
 
 
 
 
 Leaf Color: Grayish-green   Type: Compound   Shape: Round or oval   Margin: Smooth   Attachment: Alternate   Hairs: N
 Description: Bipinnately compound to 3 inches long. The central stalk of each leaf has 2 to 3 pairs of leaflet stalks which have 8 to 12 leaflets.
 
 
 
 
 Color: Brown   Type: Pod   Description: Flattened twisted pod to 6 inches long and 1/2 inch wide with wax coated seeds, often narrowed between seeds; persists into winter.
 
 
 
 
 Bark Color: Gray to black   Bark Texture (Mature): Scaly   Bark and Branch Description: Trunk up to 8 inches in diameter.  Branches short, sharp 1/4 inch long curved spines resemble a cat's claws.  Bark cracks and become scale-like with age, changing from gray to black.
 Spines, thorns or prickles: Y
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