Senegalia polyphylla

Tilcayo Cats original · Plants · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Senegalia polyphylla is a tropical American member of the pea family, Fabaceae. Its native range extends from southern Mexico to northeastern Argentina. It occurs as a tree, including scrambling forms, in seasonally dry tropical environments.

Names

The current combination was published by Britton and Rose in 1936. Kew includes Acacia polyphylla, Acacia glomerosa and Senegalia glomerosa among its synonyms. Descriptions under these older names therefore contribute to the account of the same species.

Appearance

The Barro Colorado Island flora describes a medium-sized to large tree, sometimes with projecting buttress roots at the trunk base. Stems may lack armature or carry backward-curving prickles. The leaves are twice divided: their main axis bears paired side branches, each carrying many small leaflets. In that treatment the leaflets measure about 8–12 millimetres long, and a gland occurs near the base of the leaf stalk.

Small, fragrant cream-white flowers form rounded heads, which are themselves grouped into larger branching clusters. The flattened seed pods are about 10–20 centimetres long and contain relatively few seeds. The Panamanian treatment records flowering chiefly from September to November and fruiting from January to May; these are regional observations, rather than a calendar for the whole range.

Seed biology

A Brazilian experiment used seeds collected at São Gonçalo do Rio Preto, Minas Gerais, to compare germination treatments and damage by seed beetles. Healthy seeds whose coats were sanded germinated best in the tested treatments. Beetle damage reduced germination, but some attacked seeds remained viable. The result distinguishes damage from certain seed death; it does not establish that damaged seeds perform equally well in forest restoration.