Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)

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Acaciella angustissima
(Mill.) Britton & Rose, Fabaceae
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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Risk assessment for Acaciella cochiacantha from the Government of Queensland, Australia (PDF format)

Other Latin names:  Acacia angustissima (Mill.) Kuntze; Acacia boliviana Rusby; Acacia suffrutescens Rose; Acacia texensis Torr. & A. Gray; Mimosa angustissima Mill.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Texas prairie acacia, fern acacia, prairie acacia, prairie wattle, white-ball acacia

Spanish: barbas de chivo, cantemó, carboncillo, chilicap, guajillo, guajillo blanco, guajito, guapinico, huajillo, palo de pulque, timbe, timbre

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Acaciella angustissima is morphologically highly variable. For example, the branchlets can vary from being almost glabrous to being covered with short appressed hairs. Leaf size, venation of the leaflets and flower size are also variable. The following description is of the typical form of the species (i.e. A. angustissima var. angustissima), which is most common in Queensland. It is based largely on the description in Rico Arce and Bachman (2006):  A thornless shrub or small tree usually growing 2-7 m tall with a single short trunk. However, it may very rarely reach up to 12 m in height. Its younger stems are hairless or finely hairy and are usually somewhat striate. The leaves are bipinnate, 10-21 cm long, and usually have 10-17 pairs of pinnae. They are borne on stalks 1.2-3.5 cm long that are sparsely strigulose. The pinnae are 2.5-5 cm long and each bears 20-40 pairs of leaflets. These relatively narrow leaflets are small (2.4-5 mm long and 0.5-2 mm wide) with pointed tips and entire margins. Stipules are inconspicuous (2-2.5 mm long). The whitish flower clusters are globular or ellipsoidal in shape (1-1.5 cm across) and are actually short head-like racemes. They are borne on short peduncles (1-1.5 cm long) and arranged in axillary fascicles, which may sometimes be arranged into larger panicle-like inflorescences. The flat, thin-walled, papery, pods are oblong in shape (3-9 cm long and 6-15 mm wide) with straight or sinuate margins. They are initially green, but turn coffee-brown when ripe. These glabrous pods are acute at the base and apex, with a stipe 7-12 mm long and a beak 2-7 mm long. Each pod contains 8-12 circular seeds 2.5-3.2 mm across. These seeds are arranged transversely in the pod and are clearly separated from each other. Seed production is prolific"  (Csurhes & Navie, 2009, pp. 4-9).

Habitat/ecology:  "A. angustissima prefers tropical climates but can persist in warmer sub-tropical areas. It is best adapted to seasonally dry areas within these climate zones. For example, in eastern Indonesia (which is outside its native range), this species can readily survive an eight-month dry season. Cook et al. (2005) stated that within its native range, annual rainfall varies from 800-3000 mm and mean temperatures range from 25-30° C. However, these authors included a number of closely related species in their assessment. In addition, it is unclear whether their assessment included A. angustissima var. texensis, which inhabits considerably drier areas in Texas with as low as 400 mm rainfall per annum. When considered collectively, it may be reasonable to conclude that the three varieties of this species could inhabit seasonally dry tropical areas with an annual rainfall between 400 and 3000 mm, with perhaps 800-1500 mm being optimal.  A. angustissima grows naturally from near sea level to 2800 m. It can also tolerate cold climates once established, including occasional temperatures below freezing (Cook et al. 2005). A. angustissima prefers free-draining, infertile, acidic soils in its native range (including black and red acid soils). However, it has been cultivated on a wide range of soils, including vertisols of slightly alkaline pH. It responds well to fertiliser when grown on acidic infertile soils (Cook et al. 2005). Field observations of this species in disturbed coastal riparian habitats in south-eastern Queensland (i.e. subtropical climates) and disturbed coastal open dry woodlands in northern Queensland (i.e. tropical climates) tend to support a conclusion that it is able to invade disturbed sites in open forests, dry scrubs (including deciduous scrubs) and certain riparian habitats"  (Csurhes & Navie, 2009, pp. 13-14).

Propagation:  "A.  angustissima usually produces large numbers of seeds. However, at lowland sites (20 m above sea level) in Papua New Guinea, it has been observed to flower but does not produce any seeds, whereas at higher elevation (1650 m) it seeded prolifically. Like most species of Acacia, recruitment tends to occur most readily when competition from other plants is low (Cook et al. 2005). Some plants can also produce new shoots through root suckering. Seeds are hard-coated and can survive for many years when buried in soil (Cook et al. 2005)"  (Csurhes & Navie, 2009, p. 15).

Native range:  "Southern United States, south through Mexico and Central America to Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and northern Argentina"  (Csurhes & Navie, 2009, p. 4).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
State of Hawaii
Hawaiian Islands
O‘ahu Island   Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1986) (voucher ID: BISH 534536)
Taxon name on voucher: Acacia angustissima (Mill.) Britton & Rose
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)
Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island) introduced
invasive
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Naturalized
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)
Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island) introduced
Csurhes, Steve/Navie, Sheldon (2009) (p. 10)
Philippines
Philippine Islands
Philippine Islands introduced
invasive
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Naturalized
Philippines
Philippine Islands
Philippine Islands introduced
Csurhes, Steve/Navie, Sheldon (2009) (p. 10)
Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
Australia
Australia (continental)
Queensland introduced
cultivated
Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 91)
As Acacia boliviana
Australia
Australia (continental)
Queensland   Batianoff, G. N./Butler, D. W. (2002)
As Acacia boliviana
Australia
Australia (continental)
Queensland introduced
invasive
Australian Biological Resources Study (2013)
As Acacia boliviana Rusby. Vouchers cited: L. Pedley 4955 (BRI, MEL, NSW), D.H.C. Seton s.n. (BRI), I.B. Staples 2185 (BRI)
Australia
Australia (continental)
Queensland introduced
invasive
cultivated
Csurhes, Steve/Navie, Sheldon (2009) (p. 11)
As Acaciella angustissima (Mill.) Britton & Rose
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Costa Rica (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Also var. angustissima
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
El Salvador (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Guatemala (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Also var. angustissima
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Honduras (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Nicaragua (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Central America
Central America (Pacific rim)
Panama (Republic of) native
ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia (Republic of) introduced
invasive
Csurhes, Steve/Navie, Sheldon (2009) (p. 16)
As Acacia villosa
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico (United Mexican States) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Also var. angustissima, var. suffrutescens (Rose) Isely and var. texensis (Torr. & A. Gray) Isely
South America (Pacific rim)
South America (Pacific rim)
Colombia native
ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2013)
South America (Pacific rim)
South America (Pacific rim)
Ecuador (Republic of) (continental) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim)
South America (Pacific rim)
Perú (Republic of) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Thailand
Thailand
Thailand (Kingdom of) introduced
invasive
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Naturalized
Thailand
Thailand
Thailand (Kingdom of) introduced
Csurhes, Steve/Navie, Sheldon (2009) (p. 10)
United States (west coast)
United States (west coast states)
USA (California) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. &
Island group
Location Cited status &
Cited as invasive &
Cited as cultivated &
Cited as aboriginal introduction?
Reference &
Comments
United States (continental except west coast)
United States (other states)
United States (other states) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Also var. suffrutescens (Rose) Isely and var. texensis (Torr. & A. Gray) Isely
United States (continental except west coast)
United States (other states)
USA (Florida) native
U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2013)

Comments:  For many years these plants in Australia were incorrectly known by the name Acacia boliviana (Csurhes & Navie, 2009, p. 4).

Control:  If you know of control methods for Acaciella angustissima, please let us know.


Need more info? Have questions? Comments? Information to contribute? Contact PIER! (pier@hear.org)

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This page was created on 2 SEP 2009 and was last updated on 22 JAN 2013.