Vachellia farnesiana, also known as Acacia farnesiana, and previously Mimosa farnesiana, commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, casha tree, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry.
Description
The plant is deciduous over part of its range, but evergreen in most locales. Growing from multiple trunks, it reaches a height of . The base of each leaf is accompanied by a pair of thorns on the branch. The dark brown fruit is a seed pod. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used Aldini's work as basis for his taxon Mimosa farnesiana. In 1806 Carl Ludwig Willdenow moved this taxon to the genus Acacia.
Partly due to its wide distributional range, the taxon has attracted many synonyms. Especially in the United States, the taxonomy has been confused.
In 1809, Willdenow described Acacia acicularis from Central America collected and named during Humboldt and Bonpland's scientific expedition to the Americas. Acacia ferox was described in 1843 in Belgium from collections in Mexico. Acacia lenticellata was described in 1859 for the plants found growing throughout Australia.
In the Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Indiae Orientalis of 1834, Wight & Arnott, attempted to split the burgeoning genus Acacia by moving a number of the Acacia species growing in India to the new genus Vachellia.
This was not widely followed, nonetheless in 1933, Small verified Alexander's name Vachellia densiflora for plants growing in Louisiana, and awarded V. peninsularis and V. insularis to different populations of the plants growing in Florida. This taxon was later elevated to species status as A. guanacastensis by the same three in 2000 and later moved to Vachellia guanacastensis by Seigler and Ebinger in 2006.
Acacia pinetorum was subsumed under A. farnesiana as A. farnesiana subsp. pinetorum in 2002 by Clarke, Seigler and Ebinger (rendering the nominate form A. farnesiana subsp. farnesiana). Seigler and Ebinger later reclassified this as Vachellia farnesiana var. pinetorum in 2005.
The plant prefers full sunlight in a tropical climate. The plant has been spread to many new locations as a result of human activity, and it is considered a serious weed in Fiji, where locals call it Ellington's curse.
Uses
Perfume
The flowers are processed through distillation to produce a perfume called cassie, which has been described as "delicious". It is widely used in the perfume industry in Europe. Flowers of the plant provide the perfume essence from which the biologically important sesquiterpenoid farnesol is named.
Ornamental
This drought-tolerant species is often used in xeriscaping in Texas. In the Philippines the leaves are traditionally rubbed on the skin to treat skin diseases in livestock. In Malaysia, an infusion of the plant's flowers and leaves is mixed with turmeric for post-partum treatment.
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Common names
Australia: mimosa bush, dead finish,
- Cassie-oil plant