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Scientific: Acacia craspedocarpa (Synonym: Acacia mulganeura)
Common: leatherleaf acacia
Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Origin: South central West Australia, riparian areas on loam or clay dominated soils, sometimes forming thickets.

Pronounciation: A-KAY-sha cras-pe-doe-CAR-pa

Hardiness zones
Sunset
8, 9, 12-24
USDA 8-11

Landscape Use: Leatherleaf acacia is used primarily in xeric landscape design themes as a background, screen, or informal hedge plant. Also, with some judicious training it makes a nice multiple-trunk small tree for dry patios.

Form & Character: Upright and rounded, shrub to small multiple trunk tree, dry, clean, recessive, tough.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, woody, broadleaf perennial shrub, stiffly branched with a moderately slow growth rate to 15-feet tall with equal spread. In desert regions, the growth rate and ultimate size of leatherleaf acacia is much affected by the amounts of supplemental waterings provided.

Foliage/Texture: Small, grayish green phyllodes, sometimes glaucous, new phyllodes are bronzy brown, obovate to less than 1-inch long, new growth has a copper tinge; medium fine texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Flowers small, yellow, prominent stamens, powder puff appearance in both spring (most profusely) and fall (sporadic), strongly attract bees. Fruits in early summer are flattened and oblong, green changing to brown, prominent veins.

Seasonal Color: Flowers during spring and fall, mostly heavily in spring.

Temperature: Highly adapted to lower Sononran Desert climate, heat loving and cold tolerant to 16oF.

Light: Full sun, tolerates western exposures.

Soil: Tolerant of alkaline soils, although the phyllodes tend to yellow somewhat in chronically over-irrigated wet alkaline soils. Chelated micronutrient fertilizers or reducing the amounts and frequency of supplemental water will correct this problem quickly.

Watering: Leatherleaf acacia needs little supplemental after establishment (I never water the leatherleaf acacia in my Phoenix yard) especially during the cooler winter months. If one is having to water this tough shrub (mostly because its theraputic...come on now, you can admit it), then water it every one to two weeks during the summer. More frequent irrigations will dramatically increase growth rate and 'rankify' its otherwise tight, rounded form, as well as effervesce an inperceptible scent that attracts the 'Horticultural clods of Phoenix' (aka' Hort clods') who will shear it into the shape of a corn dog or something else really weird.

Pruning: Very little needed except to give shape. Thoughts of shearing this shrub are just flat out weird (horticultural therapy recommended).

Propagation: Seed, scarification needed.

Disease and Pests: None, it's bullet proof!

Additional comments: Leatherleaf acacia is very tolerant of dry, harsh urban conditions. This tough large shrub is an excellent choice for a large background screening plant in xeric landscapes. Fruit pod litter is significant especially as this shrub matures. But if it's left in place (sustainability tip), then it might eventually make a nice undercanopy surface mulch.

Taxonomic factoid: The species name craspedocarpa means vein fruit.