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Acacia angustissima
Also called Prairie acacia, Fern Acacia, White Ball Acacia
Acaciella angustissima, also called prairie acacia or white-ball acacia, is a thornless, deciduous legume that starts as a shrub and can grow into a small tree. It is valued for drought tolerance, green manure and ground cover, but it can spread aggressively as a weed, so plant it only where a hardy cover is needed.
Acaciella angustissima, commonly known as the prairie acacia, white-ball acacia, ocpatl, or palo de pulque, is a species of legume most recognized for its drought tolerance and its ability to be used as a green manure and ground covering. It is a perennial, deciduous, and belongs to the family Fabaceae (beans/legumes) and as it grows it starts as a shrub but eventually matures to a small tree. The tree has a high density of leaves along with small clumps of white flowers and creates 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) long seed pods.
Acaciella angustissima is found in tropical areas around the equator since its water needs can vary from 750 to 2,500 mm a year. It has an advantage it can withstand a moderate drought, since its leaves are retained even in long dry periods. Aside from being drought tolerant, A.
There are many constraints restricting A. angustissima from wider adoption. For instance, the amount of water it needs to survive is 3–4 times the amount of rainfall found in northern Africa. Additionally, A. angustissima can act as a rapidly spreading weed.
Because it has turned into a weed in its native habitat, the species should only be used in a controlled environment or when absolutely necessary. The only times it should be considered are when dealing with a harsh conditions where only weeds can survive, and some type of ground cover is needed to help with erosion control. If these circumstances are true, then the expected final height of the plant should be kept in mind when planting to prevent over crowding. Intercropping would also be complementary, by allowing farmers to take advantage of the unused space between plants, the nitrogen fixing habit, and the shade provided by the bushy branches. Due to the complex structure of the leaves it can take a year for them to decompose and release nutrients into the soil.
A. angustissima contains roughly 10% tannins, which is the plant's natural defense mechanism. The taste created by the tannins is not usually welcomed, and the compound itself negatively affects livestock digestive systems.
Acaciella angustissima comes from the plant family Fabaceae. It only grows in very wet parts of the world, usually around the equator due to its large consumption of water. It is native to southern parts of North America, the Caribbean and the majority of South America. However, it is able to grow at almost any elevation and usually prefers a warm climate of 25–30 degrees Celsius. Acaciella angustissima is still one of the many crops under-utilized and researched. Luckily there is hope, roughly 20 years ago researches started evaluating it in tropical areas such as Zimbabwe.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Acaciella angustissima by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
