return to: checklist; keys, family Fabaceae sensu lato, subfamily Mimosoideae

Acacia collinsii Safford; subin che

Small tree or shrub; evenly bipinnate leaves; stipules large, sharp-pointed, hollow, and inhabited by ants; inflorescence cylindrical; flowers minute, yellow; legume fruits woody, thick-walled, opening to yield paired boat-like valves.

CAUTION: Ants patrol all above-ground parts of the plant and will aggressively bite anybody or anything that comes into contact with their host.

Additional images:

leaves and stipular spines

newly expanded leaf with Beltian bodies at leaf apex

inflorescence

fruits and opening in stipular spine ant-domatium