Acacia constricta

Acacia constricta

Common Name: Whitethorn
O’odham Name: Gidag Audio
Group: Shrubs - Desert

Description

Acacia constricta grows to up to 10 ft tall and wide. This plant gets its common name from the long, Whitethorns. In Spring and, occasionally during summer, it produces masses of sweet-smelling yellow spherical flowers 1 cm in diameter. It grows on sandy or gravelly desert slopes between 2500 and 5000 ft. In September, the plant is covered by many drying seed pods which eventually split lengthwise. Also see Acacia greggii.

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 constricta Benth. – whitethorn acacia

More Information

Arizona Distribution Map (USDA)