Native Florida plant: Sweet acacia
Sweet acacia is one of those plants with both a good side and a bad side. The good side is the heavenly perfume that wafts through the air from the yellow pompon flowers. Abundant
Native Florida plant: Sweet acacia
Sweet acacia is one of those plants with both a good side and a bad side. The good side is the heavenly perfume that wafts through the air from the yellow pompon flowers. Abundant stamens, which produce and release pollen, cause the flower’s puffy appearance. After being drawn in by the scent, someone beginning to caress the feathery leaves would encounter the bad side: paired spines at the base of each leaf.
Technically, these spines are “stipular spines” because they were modified from stipules, small appendages that may function to protect the leaf bud. Stipules likely evolved to be pointy as a means of defense against ravenous herbivores. In Florida, the potential herbivore may be white-tailed deer, but additional species could be a threat throughout the rest of its range.
Besides Florida, sweet acacia ranges through the Southern U.S. to California and south through tropical America. Across oceans, this tree is also present in Africa, Asia, and Australia. With such prevalence, one may wonder exactly where sweet acacia originated. Many of us associate the spin