Plant · P-063

Catclaw Acacia

Senegalia greggii

Catclaw Acacia is a desert legume that does not fix nitrogen despite its family, but more than earns its keep with a seven-month bloom of fragrant cream and yellow flower spikes that feed bees from April through October. Its hooked, claw-like thorns catch clothing and skin and will not let go, so it has to sit well clear of any path, gate or working area, and the twigs and foliage are poisonous to livestock. Immature green pods can be eaten after boiling through several changes of water to remove the tannin and cyanide, and the dense, tight-grained wood works well for fence posts, turnery and cabinet work. It wants sharply drained sandy or rocky ground and fails wherever the soil holds moisture, including heavy clay under high rainfall.