Acaciella angustissima var. angustissima
Acaciella angustissima var. angustissima is a variety of a shrub or small tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is native from the central and southern United States through Mexico and Central America into South America, reaching northwestern Argentina. Plants of the World Online places the older name Acacia boliviana within this variety.[1]
Description
The foliage has a fern-like appearance: each leaf divides into paired branches, themselves bearing many pairs of tiny leaflets. Rico Arce and Bachman's taxonomic account describes 11–17 pairs of these primary divisions and 20–40 leaflet pairs on each. Small white flowers cluster into short, rounded groups. The flat pods measure 4–9 cm long and generally contain 8–12 seeds.[2]
The Arizona Desert Legume Program describes unarmed, deciduous plants often only 1–2 metres high. The wider taxonomic account includes shrubs and trees usually reaching three metres, exceptionally twelve. Size therefore varies considerably, and a regional garden description does not encompass every growth form.[3][2]
Habitat and seasonal growth
The taxonomic treatment records the variety in oak–pine forest, secondary deciduous forest and dry scrub.[2] In Arizona it occurs on slopes, beside seasonal watercourses and along roads, particularly in grassland and oak woodland. The Desert Legume Program gives May to October as its usual flowering period and reports butterfly visits to the flowers.[3]
Cold winters can kill stems back to ground level, producing low, many-stemmed growth, while plants in milder conditions may grow taller. These observations describe its behaviour in cultivation in the American Southwest.[3]
Names and introduced range
The repeated epithet identifies the nominate variety. Kew recognises this variety separately from the other varieties of Acaciella angustissima. Its records include introductions to Cuba, Queensland, New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. “Acaciella angustissima var. angustissima”. Plants of the World Online. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rico Arce, M. de L.; Bachman, S. (2006). “Acaciella angustissima var. angustissima”. Treatment from Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid 63(2): 189–244, reproduced by the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 University of Arizona, Desert Legume Program. “Acaciella angustissima var. angustissima”. Accessed 9 October 2026.