Acacia angustissima – Prairie Acacia

Acacia angustissima - Prairie Acacia, White-ball Acacia

Acacia angustissima - Prairie Acacia, White-ball Acacia

Acacia angustissima - Prairie Acacia, White-ball Acacia

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Acacia angustissima

Common Names: Prairie Acacia, White-ball Acacia

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial, Deciduous

Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland

Flower Color: White, Greenish cream, Pinkish

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer

Height: To 3 feet (91 cm) tall or more

Description: The flowers are clustered into 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) wide, fuzzy balls of stamens and will open white and age to a pinkish color. The flowers are followed by flat, elongated, brown seedpods. The leaves are green and bipinnate with tiny leaflets. The stems are hairy, reddish, and spineless. The larger stems are ridged and grooved, unlike the similar, but taller and smooth-stemmed Lysiloma watsonii.

Special Characteristics

Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract butterflies and other insects like bees.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus: Acacia Mill. – acacia
Species: Acacia angustissima (Mill.) Kuntze – prairie acacia

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map