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Vachellia farnesiana
Also called Ellington Curse, Cassie, Fragrant Acacia, Huisache, Ironwood, Mimosa Bush, Opopanax
Sweet acacia is a fast-growing, thorny shrub or small tree in the pea family, native to the tropics and subtropics of the Americas and now widespread in warm regions worldwide. It thrives in full sun, hot dry conditions and sandy or poor soil, and is valued for its fragrant flowers used in perfume.
Vachellia farnesiana, also known as Acacia farnesiana, and previously Mimosa farnesiana, commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, casha tree, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry.
Of all Acacia species, this plant has the greatest distribution. It was first described by Europeans in 1625 by Tobias Aldini from plants grown from seed collected in Santo Domingo, in what is now the Dominican Republic. The native range of V. farnesiana has been or is sometimes disputed. While the point of origin is thought to be the Caribbean, the Guianas, Mexico, and/or Central America, the species has a pantropical distribution incorporating most of the Americas (from the Southern U.S. to Chile, excluding the Amazon), most of Australia, much of Africa, southern Europe, and southern Asia. In the Caribbean, it is present from the Bahamas and Cuba south to Trinidad, Curaçao, and Aruba, where in it is believed to be native to Hispaniola and certainly Cuba, but possibly native or naturalised elsewhere. In the U.S., it is thought to be native to southern Texas, southern New Mexico, southern Arizona, and southern California, but perhaps naturalized in southern Louisiana, coastal Mississippi, coastal Alabama, coastal Georgia, and southern Florida.
Vachellia leucophloea · Vachellia nilotica subsp. hemispherica · Vachellia schaffneri · Vachellia tortilis · Vachellia xanthophloea · Roman Cassie · Bullhorn Wattle · Camel thorn · Robber Thorn · Sweet Thorn · Babul · Gum Arabic Tree
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vachellia farnesiana 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
