Prairie Acacia

Appearance

''Acaciella angustissima'' is normally a shrub but can also look like a small tree when fully grown, since its height can vary from 2–7 m depending on the growing conditions.

Large clumps of small white flowers cover the branches of the bush. The flowers have 5 petals with a large number of stamens extended far past the petals.

The plant also produces a small seedpod that starts out green, but then turns brown when fully matured. The seedpods usually have a length of 4–7 cm, and are 6–8 mm wide. The leaves which are one of the plant’s key traits are made up of 10-20 pairs of long thin leaves that go down a stem. They come in pairs of 3–12.

One unique feature of the ''Acaciella angustissima'' is that it is thornless unlike most members of the genus ''Acacia'' .

Distribution

''Acaciella angustissima'' is found in tropical areas around the equator since, its water needs can vary from 750-2,500 mm a year. It has an advantage it can withstand a moderate drought, since its leaves are retained even in long dry periods.

Habitat

Altitude: 0-2600m
Annual temperature mean: 5-30 deg. C.
Annual rainfall mean: 895-2870mm
Soil: ''A. angustissima'' is well-suited for acidic, low-nutrient soils and it has very good resistance to drought.

Evolution

''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.