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Earleaf acacia

Acacia auriculiformis | earleaf acacia -- Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants

Acacia auriculiformis

Non-Native in Florida

Download the Recognition Card (PDF 508 KB).

Download a page (PDF 187 KB) from Identification and Biology of Nonnative Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas – Second Edition, by K.A. Langeland, H.M. Cherry, et al. University of Florida-IFAS Pub SP 257. 2008.

For control information, see Integrated Management of Nonnative Plants in Natural Areas of Florida (SP 242) by K. A. Langeland, J. A. Ferrell, B. Sellers, G. E. MacDonald, and R. K. Stocker

Date of introduction to Florida: by 1932 (ornamental)

(from Strangers in Paradise, Impact and Management of Nonindigenous Species in Florida, Chapter 2: Florida’s Invasion by Nonindigenous Plants: History, Screening, and Regulation, by D.R. Gordon and K.P. Thomas, pp. 21-37. Island Press, Washington, DC, 1997.)

The UF/IFAS Assessment lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida.

Appearance: Evergreen, unarmed tree to 15 m (50 ft) tall, with compact spread, often multi-stemmed; young growth glaucous.

Leaves: Alternate, simple, reduced to flattened blade-like phyllodes slightly curved, 11–20 cm (5–8 in) long, with 3–7 main parallel veins and a marginal gland near the base; surfaces dark green.

Flowers: Loose, yellow-orange spikes at leaf axils or in clusters of spikes at stem tips; flowers mimosa-like, with numerous free stamens.

Fruit: Flat, oblong pod, twisted at maturity, splitting to reveal flat black seeds attached by orange, string-like arils.

Ecological threat: Has invaded pinelands, scrub, and hammocks in south Florida. Displaces native vegetation, and threatens to shade out rare plants. FLEPPC Category I

Distribution: SW, SE

Text from Invasive and Non-Native Plants You Should Know, Recognition Cards, 2007. UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, Publ. No. SP 431.

View the herbarium specimen image from the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.