Vachellia farnesiana (L.) Wight & Arn.
Mimosa, prickly acacia, sweet acacia, needle bush, huisache
Mimosa is pantropical, found in the Caribbean, the Guianas, from the southern USA to Chile, most of Australia, much of Africa, southern Europe, and southern Asia. It is evergeen over most of its range, but in some habitats it is deciduous. In some areas mimosa is considered an invasive species.
Plants: A small tree or shrub, with multiple trunks. Reaches a height of 6½–23′ (2–7 m). Stems are deep brown or gray, covered with long, sharp paired thorns up to 2″ (5 cm) in length.
Leaves: Feathery, finely divided, bipinnate, with 2-8 pairs of pinnae and 10-12 pairs of leaflets in each pinna. Leaflets are 1/16–¼″ (2–7 mm) long and 1/32–1/16″ (0.8–1.8 mm) wide.
Flowers: “Puffballs” are yellow, very fragrant, and ⅜–½″ (1–1.5 cm) in diameter. They appear nearly all year. An essential oil called Cassie, which smells like violets, is distilled from the flowers.
Fruits: Pods are glossy, 1½–3 ⨉ ½″ (4–7.5 ⨉ 1.5 cm), straight or curved, and pointed on both ends. They are dark brown to blackish, and contain chestnut-brown seeds ¼–5/16 ⨉ ⅛″ (7–8 ⨉ 4 mm).
Habitats: Grasslands, scrub, floodplains, light woodland, below 1000′ (304 m).
Online References:
4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 4½ × 3½″ (11 × 9.6 cm) 
4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 4½ × 4½″ (11 × 12 cm) 
5/24/2009 · Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona · ≈ 1 × 1″ (2.8 × 2.9 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
2/24/1998 · Antigua 
4/12/2015 · Shark Valley, Everglades National Park, Florida · ≈ 4½ × 3½″ (11 × 9.6 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Fabales | Legumes (pea and bean families) |
| Family | Fabaceae | Legume family (peas and beans) |
| Genus | Vachellia | Named after the Rev. George Harvey Vachell (1798-1839), chaplain to the British East India Company in Macao from 1825-1836 and a plant collector in China |
| Species | farnesiana | From plants grown in Rome in the Farnese Gardens from seed collected in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic |
Vachellia farnesiana description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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