Mexican Mimosa

Mimosa distachya Cav. Icones 3: 48. 1794
Acacia distachya DC. Prodr. 2: 456. 1825.
Acacia remote Benth. Lond.Joum. Bot. 5: 88. 1846.
A shrub, the branches angled, prickly or unarmed. Stipules subulate; pinnae 3 or 4 pairs; leaflets 3 or 4 pairs, elliptic to obovate, rounded, 6-10 mm. long, pubescent on both sides, at least when young; flowers in spikes 3-4 cm. long; calyx and corolla 5-lobed, puberulent or glabrate; stamens 10; legume narrowly oblong, puberulent, 2-3 cm. long, 5-7 mm. wide, obtuse, puberulent, unarmed, apiculate, short-stipitate, somewhat constricted between the seeds.
Type locality: Mexico. Distribution: Sinaloa to Puebla.

Perennial, Shrubs, Woody throughout, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems 1-2 m tall, Stems greater than 2 m tall, Trunk or stems armed with thorns, spines or prickles, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems with hooked uncinate hairs or prickles, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves bipinnate, Leaf or l eaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 5-9, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Flowers solitary in axils, or appearing solitary, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescence axillary, Inflorescence terminal, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals united, valvate, Petals white, Imperfect flowers present, dioecious or polygamodioecious, Stamens 9-10, Stamens completely free, separate, Stamens long exserted, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit a loment, jointed, separating into articles, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit compressed between seeds, Fruit torulose or moniliform, strongly constricted between seeds, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seed with elliptical line or depression, pleurogram, Seeds subquadrate, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.