Sweet acacia
Vachellia farnesiana
MediumSecondary
ProductionNitrogen fixer
A tough, fast nitrogen-fixing shrub with intensely fragrant flowers prized for perfume and loved by bees. Thorny, frost-shy, and can turn weedy if left unchecked outside its native range.
Tolerances & traits
- Strata
- Medium
- Lifecycle
- Secondary
- Soil preference
- Sandy, Loam
- Soil pH range
- 6 – 8.5
- Min. temperature
- -6°C
- Min. rainfall
- 400 mm/year
- Wind tolerance
- High
- Frost tolerance
- Low
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Irrigation needed
- Low
How to manage it
Coppices and regrows fast after cutting; use as a nitrogen-fixing nurse shrub in hot, dry, sunny lines and harvest flowers for perfume/fragrance use.
Watch out for
Thorny and frost-tender when young. Listed as invasive/weedy in parts of Africa, Asia and Australia (CABI) - monitor for self-seeding and control spread. Syn. Acacia farnesiana.
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