It was first described by Europeans under the name "Acacia Indica Farnesiana" in 1625 by Tobias Aldini from plants grown in Rome in the Farnese Gardens from seed collected in Santo Domingo, in what is now the Dominican Republic, which germinated in 1611. Tobias Aldini included an illustration of the plant, which he contrasted with an illustration of the first known "Acacia"; "Acacia nilotica". This first (European) illustration of the plant was later designated as the (lecto-)type. In 1753, Linnaeus used Aldini's work as basis for his taxon "Mimosa farnesiana". In 1806 Carl Ludwig Willdenow moved this taxon to the genus "Acacia".