''Mimosa aculeaticarpa'' is a species of woody

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 ...

in the family

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

. It is commonly known as the catclaw mimosa or the wait-a-minute bush, and is endemic to

upland Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

regions of Mexico and the Southwestern United States, particularly Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Description

The catclaw mimosa is a straggling thicket forming shrub, usually growing to about one metre tall but occasionally double that height. The twigs are hairy and armed with backward pointing spines that easily catch in clothing. The alternate leaves are bi-pinnate with a varying number of small oblong leaflets. The flowers are white or pale pink, bunched together in globular heads. The fruits are flat pods up to four centimetres long, flattened between the seeds and splitting open when ripe. There are recurved prickles on the edges of the pods.US Forest Service: Fire Ecology
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Distribution

This species grows in upland areas of central and southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, western and central Texas and northern Mexico.

Ecology

This species occurs as scattered individual plants in oak, oak-pine, and evergreen woodlands, pinyon-juniper woodland and mixed with other shrubs in grassland and shrub-steppe communities. It grows on mesas, rocky slopes and gravel deposits. It is commonly found growing in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

and is spreading into desert and semi arid areas. This may be because the seed pods are eaten by cattle and the seeds are deposited in the dung, giving them a rich environment for germination. The plant is fire tolerant and sprouts readily after bushfires. In upland areas of west Texas, the redberry juniper (Juniperus pinchotii) acts as a nurse plant for the seedlings. They benefit from the shade and leaf litter associated with the juniper which seems to provide a favourable microclimate for the establishment of the seedlings.Medina, Alvin L. 1987. Woodland communities and soils of Fort Bayard, southwestern New Mexico. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. 21: 99–112. 978/ref>

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6862330 aculeaticarpa