Catclaw Acacia (Acacia greggii)

CaliforniaPhenologyProject:
speciesprofilefor
CatclawAcacia
(Acaciagreggii)
CPPsite(s)wherethisspeciesismonitored:JoshuaTreeNa+onalPark
Whatdoesthisspecieslooklike?
Thisdeciduousshruborsmalltreehascurvedthornsonitsstems.
Thegrey-greenleavesaremadeupofmanysmallleaflets.The
flowersarearrangedininflorescencesmadeupofmanysmall
lightyellowflowers.Inflorescencestendtobelongerthanthe
leavesandclusteredwithleavesonshort-shoots.Thefruitisa
brownpodbetween5and15cen+meterslong.Itcanbecurved,
twisted,orflatinshape,narrowingbetweentheseeds.
Whenmonitoringthisspecies,usetheUSA-NPNsemideciduoustreesandshrubsdatasheet.
Photocredit:StanShebs
Speciesfacts!
•  TheCPPfourleKercodeforthisspeciesisACGR.
•  Thisspeciesgotitscommonnamefromhookedthornsthatare
thesizeandshapeofacatsclawandtendtohookunsuspec+ng
wanderers.
•  Theseedsrequirescarifica+ontogerminate.ThisoPenoccurs
whenseedstravelacrossalandscapeduetoflashflooding.
•  Thisspecieshasextrafloralnectariesthatprovideafoodand
watersourceforants.
•  Na+veamericansavoidedmaturefruitofthisspeciesbecausethe
+ssuecontainsapoten+allypoisonouscompoundcalledprunasin.
However,theyoungunripefruitwaseatenandthestemswere
usedformakingtools.
Photocredit:StanShebs
Whereisthisspeciesfound?
• 
• 
• 
Foundateleva+onsbetween100and1400meters.
Occursalongflatsandwashes
FoundindesertregionsfromCaliforniatoTexasandintoMexico.
Photocredit:StanShebs
Formoreinforma+onaboutphenologyandtheCaliforniaPhenologyProject(CPP),pleasevisit
theCPPwebsite(www.usanpn.org/cpp)andtheUSA-NPNwebsite(www.usanpn.org)
Version3,May2016
CaliforniaPhenologyProject:
speciesprofilefor
CatclawAcacia
(Acaciagreggii)
Youngleaves
Leaves
Youngleavesare
generallythinner
andlightercolored
thanmatureleaves.
AnthonyMendoza
Flowersorflower
buds
Whenmonitoring
flowerorflowerbud
abundanceforthis
species,counteach
inflorescenceasa
singleflowering
structure!For
example,ifthereare
twoinflorescences
AnthonyMendoza withmanyflowersor
budseach,then
ACGRflowersandflowerbuds
abundanceshouldbe
growoninflorescencestalks.
recordedas<3.
Beforetheflowersopentheyare
stalkswithmanysmallbudson
them(~2-3”long)
Fruits
JohnAlcock
Thefruitisapod
thatchangesfrom
greentotan,redbrownorbrownand
splitsopentoexpose
theseeds.Donot
includeemptypods
thathavealready
droppedalloftheir
seeds.
Note:fruitphenophasesarenested;ifyourecordY
for“ripefruits”youshouldalsorecordYto“fruits”
Openflowers
Youcanseethepollenproducinganthers
emergingfromthe
flowerinthephototo
thele@.Propor@onof
openflowersshouldbe
recordedatthescaleof
individualflowers,not
inflorescences(i.e.
esDmatetheproporDon
AnthonyMendoza ofindividualflowers
thatareopen)!
Note:flowerphenophasesare
nested;ifyourecordYfor“open
flowers”youshouldalsorecordY
to“flowersandflowerbuds”
Ripefruits
Afruitisconsidered
ripewhenithasturned
tan,red-brownor
brown.Donotinclude
emptypodsthathave
alreadydroppedallof
theirseeds.
Phenophasesnotpictured:Recentfruitorseeddrop
Version3,May2016