Tree Description:
A small, vase-shaped landscape tree to 30 feet tall and a trunk to 12" in diameter, with a flat crown that is often wider than tall. Often short-lived due to mimosa vascular wilt.
Range/Site Description:
Native to Asia, mimosa is planted throughout much of Texas, escaping and naturalizing in abandoned lots, fencerows, and fields in the eastern third of the state.
Leaf:
The alternately-attached leaves are 10" to 15" long, double-compound, with 5-12 pairs of pinnae (no terminal pinna), each with 10-30 pairs of leaflets measuring about 0.25" long. The fern-like foliage gives the tree a graceful, delicate appearance.
Flower:
Delicate, showy, pink flowers mostly made up of clusters of the threadlike stamens, 2" or more long, which appear in early summer.
Fruit:
A flat, papery pod 5" to 8" long and 0.75" to 1" wide, with a pointed tip, enclosing the hard, brown seeds.
Bark:
Pale gray, smooth, and tight on young trees, with vertical seams developing on older trunks.
Wood:
Wood used for cabinets in its native Asia. Sold in southern U.S. as a landscape tree.
Similar Species:
Berlandier acacia (or guajillo) (Acacia berlandieri) is a common shrub in the brush country of South Texas; great leadtree (or tepeguaje) (Leucaena pulverulenta) is common in Rio Grande valley; Gregg leadtree (L. greggii) is a disputed species and may be extinct in Texas.
Interesting Facts:
First cultivated in 1745.
