Vachellia acuifera

Vachellia acuifera Benth.

Synonym: Acacia acuifera

Common Names: Pork and Dough Boy, Cassip, Rosewood

Family: Fabaceae

Habit: Vachellia acuifera grows as a small tree/large shrub to 4 m in height. The trunk is brown with branches/groups spines. The bipinnate leaves are arranged alternately with spinose stipules at the base of the petioles and with a sessile round gland between the pinnae. There is 1 pair of pinnae each with 8 – 18 pairs of leaflets. The sessile pinnae are dark green, 5-15 cm in length, oblong with an entire margin.

The complete, perfect, actinomorphic flowers are arranged in tight, axillary or terminal, globular heads with each flower subtended by a bract. There are 5 fused sepals in the calyx forming a shallow tube. There are 5 fused petals in the corolla forming a tube that exceeds the calyx. There are numerous yellow showy stamens that are 2 times as long as the perianth. The ovary is superior with a single locule. The fruit is a curved legume that turns brown at maturity, is up to 8 cm in length, and very slightly compressed around the seeds.

Habitat: Vachellia acuifera grows in Dry Broadleaf Evergreen Formations- Forest/Shrublands (coppice), and Pine Woodlands

Distribution: Vachellia acuifera occurs throughout the Lucayan Archipelago and Cuba.

Medicinal/Cultural/Economic usage: Vachellia acuifera is not known to be used medicinally in the Bahamas. It is useful for attracting butterflies and birds.