Help us maintain this website and keep it free and open for our community of scientists, students, and conservation managers, who depend on it to obtain the most up to date information. Help us save species and restore native ecosystems!

Close
Please scroll to the bottom for more images.
Floristic Inventory of the Florida Keys Database Online

Vachellia farnesiana (L.) Wight & Arn. var. farnesiana
Sweet acacia

Vachellia farnesiana
Copyright by: Shirley Denton

Family: Fabaceae

Group: Dicot

Substrate: Terrestrial

Habit: Shrub

Perennation: Perennial

Native Range: Southern United States, the West Indies (in part), Mexico, Central America and South America; naturalized in the Old World.

IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status: Rare

Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida

SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence: Present

SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status: Native

SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status: Cultivated

Comments: For more images, click on the USDA PLANTS and Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants links below.

Synonyms: Acacia farnesiana.

FLORIDA KEYS Occurrence: Present

FLORIDA KEYS Native Status: Native

IRC FLORIDA KEYS Status: Imperiled

Map of select IRC data for the Florida Keys

Florida Keys History and Distribution: Reported in 1884 by J. Cosmo Melvill for the island of Key West.  Reported in 1913 by John Kunkel Small for pinelands and hammocks in the lower Keys.  Very rare in the middle and upper Keys.  We consider this native and extant from the upper Keys to the lower Keys.

Other data on Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana available from :

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants

Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana has been reported from the following 13 conservation areas in the FLORIDA KEYS :
Occurrence Native Status
Bahia Honda State Park Present Native
Biscayne National Park, Florida Keys Section Possibly Extirpated Possibly Extirpated
Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks Botanical State Park Present Native
Indian Key Historic State Park Present Native
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park Present Native
Key West National Wildlife Refuge Present Native
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park, Klopp Tract Present Native
Little Hamaca Park Present Native
Little Torch Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native
Long Key State Park Reported
National Key Deer Refuge Present Native
Spoonbill Sound Hammocks, Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area Present Native




Vachellia farnesiana var. farnesiana has been reported for the following 5 habitats in THE FLORIDA KEYS :
Coastal Berm
Disturbed Upland
Keys Cactus Barren
Pine Rockland
Rockland Hammock


All Images:

Vachellia farnesiana
Copyright by: Shirley Denton
Vachellia farnesiana
Copyright by: Beryn Harty
Vachellia farnesiana
Copyright by: Beryn Harty
Vachellia farnesiana
Copyright by: Beryn Harty