General: Catclaw Acacia (Acacia greggii) usually are short, spindly, many branched trees (or large shrubs) with claw-shaped spines on the younger stems. The name comes from the catclaw spines that catch, hold, and tear the flesh and clothing of people who brush up against them. Occasionally, catclaw grow to the height of "real" trees.

Catclaw Acacia is a common components of wash communities in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones. They are also found out on bajadas.

Catclaw often are parasitized by Mesquite Mistletoe, which appears as clumps of stems with white or red berries. Phainopepla depend on these berries for food, but they are toxic to humans.

Family: Pea (Fabaceae).

Other Names: wait-a-minute bush.

Plant Form: short, spindly, many branching tree or large shrub. Sometimes forming thickets along the edges of washes.

Height: Usually 6-10 ft, to about 20 ft.

Trunk: Usually a single trunk, but many branches beginning near the ground.

Leaves: Gray-green, compound (2-pinnate), leaflets small, oblong (typical of members of the pea family).

Flowers: Blooms late spring to early summer, also sporadically throughout the summer and fall in response to rain. Bottlebrush-shaped catkins on stalks (spikes). Individual flowers are small, pale yellow, and tubular; stamens many and conspicuous.

Seeds: Fairly large seeds born in 2 to 6-inch-long, twisted, stringbean-type pods. Green, aging to brown.

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils along washes; less commonly found on open bajadas.

Distribution: Southern California to Texas and south into Mexico where winters are mild.

Elevation: Near sea level to 4,500 feet.

Comments:

Dried seedpods on the tree.