''Senegalia berlandieri'' (Berlandier acacia, guajillo acacia, guajillo, huajillo, huajilla) is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

native to the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

and northeast

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

that belongs to the

Mimosoid The Mimosoideae are a traditional subfamily of trees, herbs, lianas, and shrubs in the pea family (Fabaceae) that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates. They are typically characterized by having radially symmetric flowers, with petals ...

clade of

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

. It grows tall, with blossoms that are spherical and white, occurring from February through April.University of Texas Native Plant Information Network
/ref> The ''berlandieri'' epithet comes from the name of

Jean-Louis Berlandier Jean-Louis Berlandier (1803 – 1851) was a French-Mexican naturalist, physician, and anthropologist. Early life Berlandier was born in Geneva, and later trained as a botanist there. During this time he probably served an apprenticeship to a ph ...

, a French naturalist who studied

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

native to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

. ''S. berlandieri'' contains a wide variety of

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s and has been known to cause

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

reactions in

domestic animal This page gives a list of domesticated animals, also including a list of animals which are or may be currently undergoing the process of domestication and animals that have an extensive relationship with humans beyond simple predation. This includ ...

s such as

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of Caprinae, goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a membe ...

.B.A. Clement, C. M. Goff and T. D. A. Forbes (1997). "Toxic amines and alkaloids from ''Acacia berlandieri''." ''Phytochemistry'' 46 249-254.

Uses

''Senegalia berlandieri'' is toxic to

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

and thus should not be used as

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

Alkaloids

''Senegalia berlandieri'' contains a number of diverse

s, the most plentiful of which are ''N''-methylphenethylamine,

tyramine Tyramine ( ) (also spelled tyramin), also known under several other names, is a naturally occurring trace amine derived from the amino acid tyrosine. Tyramine acts as a catecholamine releasing agent. Notably, it is unable to cross the blood-b ...

, and

phenethylamine Phenethylamine (PEA) is an organic compound, natural monoamine alkaloid, and trace amine, which acts as a central nervous system stimulant in humans. In the brain, phenethylamine regulates monoamine neurotransmission by binding to trace amin ...

. The total alkaloid content in dried leaves has been reported to be in the range 0.28-0.66%. In a recent study, researchers identified thirty-one alkaloids in samples of plant foliage, including trace amounts of four

amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...

s previously known only from laboratory synthesis: amphetamine,

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

, ''para''-hydroxyamphetamine and ''para''-methoxyamphetamine. Other trace alkaloids include

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

, and

mescaline Mescaline or mescalin (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin. Biological sou ...

(found in many

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

but infrequently in other plants). The same group of researchers later reported finding most of the same alkaloids in '' A. rigidula'', a related species also native to the Southwestern U.S. There are no reports in the literature of these findings having been repeated, however, leading to the suggestion that they resulted from cross-contamination or were possibly artifacts of the analytical technique.

Illicit use in supplements

After the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

declared that the use of Acacia rigdula was unlawful in supplements (because of frequent adulteration with synthetic drugs), many supplement sellers began replacing previously reported 'rigdula' containing supplements with 'Acacia berlandieri'. Some of these products declare their Acacia extracts as containing Methylsynephrine, an entirely synthetic drug that has never been found in nature.

Gallery

File:Acacia-berlandieri-flowers.jpg, ''Senegalia berlandieri'' foliage and flowers File:Acacia-berlandieri-habit.jpg, ''Senegalia berlandieri'' tree File:Acacia-berlandieri-bark.jpg, ''Senegalia berlandieri'' bark File:Acacia-berlandieri-pods.jpg, ''Senegalia berlandieri'' flowers and seed pods File:Acacia berlandieri seeds.jpg, ''Senegalia berlandieri'' seeds

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q965323 berlandieri Flora of Texas Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert Trees of Chihuahua (state) Trees of Coahuila Trees of Nuevo León Trees of Tamaulipas Trees of Durango Trees of Veracruz Flora of the Mexican Plateau Shrubs Trees of the South-Central United States Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants