Arizona Wild Flowers
Wildflower Pictures And Photos

Sweet Acacia, Farnesiana Or smallii

Sweet Acacia, Acacia Farnesiana or Acacia smallii; Photo January 16, 2003

Sweet Acacia, Farnesiana Or smallii	Sweet Acacia, Farnesiana Or smallii

Sweet Acacia Farnesiana Or smallii Fabaceae Family ( Pea ) Sweet Acacia, Huisache, Popinac, or Cassie. A fast growing deciduous tree that is blooming during Thanksgiving - Christmas season to early spring with a wonderful sweet smell. Its' flowers can be used in perfumes. Some people use them for a closet freshner. Spiny, many-branched, small tree with a widely spreading, flattened crown, and fragrant yellow balls of tiny flowers. Botanists can not agree as to which family it belongs. Some say it is of the a member of the Mimosa family and may be a native of Africa Height: Up To 25" Tall. Bark: Grayish-brown, thin, smooth or scaly. Trunk: 3 to 8 inches in diameter. Twigs: Slightly zigzag, slender, covered with fine hairs when young; with straight, slender, paired white spines at nodes. Flowers: 3/16" long; yellow or orange; very fragrant; including many tiny stamens clustered in stalked balls 1/2" in diameter; mainly in late winter and early spring. Blooming Time: Early November - March or April. Leaves: Alternate or clustered; bipinnately compound; 2 - 4" long; usually with 3 - 5 pairs of side axes. 10 - 20 pairs of leaflets 1/8 - 1/4" long; oblong, mostly hairless, stalkless; gray-green. Seeds: Seedpods 1 1/2 - 3" long, 3/8 - 1/2" in diameter; a cylindrical pod; short-pointed at ends, dark brown or black, hard; maturing in summer, remaining attached, often opening late; many elliptical flattened shiny brown; seeds. Found: Statewide. Very common low water use landscaping plant in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Elevation: Below 2,000 Feet. Habitat: Ornamental in lower elevations or Arizona. Introduced from tropical America. Miscellaneous: Flowering Photos Taken January 16, 2004 in Glendale area. Not native to Arizona.