Description and Uses
Acacia farnesiana (Sweet acacia) is a
tropical
tree from
Mexico . It is mainly grown for its
conservation crops
, which have a
medium shelf life. The crop is harvested by
hand picking. It starts flowering after
2 -
3 years. The yield will be
0.4 kg/tree flowers, but in its top season there will be a yield of
1 kg/tree flowers. Other crop types include;
apiculture, edible leave shoot, endo-mycorrhiza, fodder, fuel, medicinal, tannin. The
{missing data} is used as
minor food . The
bark is used as "
malaria prevention, malaria treatment, " with
Farnesol (0% -
1%) as its significant
phytochemical. There is
Cassie perfume extracted by
solvent extraction from the
tree's
flower yielding
0.50% -
1.30% oil. The
tree's wood is called
Farnesiana wood and has a density of
900 -
1,050 kg/m³. Regarding firewood production the
tree's growing speed is
slow, it's energetic value is
4600 ckal/kg and the wood's drying speed is
fast. After
9 years the
tree can be totally removed as it reached its commercial and ecological goal.
Acacia farnesiana has a lifespan of
45 years.
Environmental limitations
The tree is
7 meters tall with a crown of
5 meters wide. The
tree prefers a planting distance of
300 cm and a row distance of
600 cm. It is
slow growing and
intolerant to shade.
Acacia farnesiana has a
deep root-system and it has symbiotic associations with the
Glomus intraradices and Glomus mosseae fungi
(endo-mycorrhiza high). It is
able to fix nitrogen moderately with
"Rhizobiaceae bacteria. The name(s) or string of bacteria include(s)
"Sinorhizobium americanum ". The
tree's flower-morphology is
hermaphroditic and is pollinated by
bees.
Acacia farnesiana is
deciduous in winter and
not allelopathic and has
thorns.
Acacia farnesiana thrives in an altitude of
0 to
1900 meters above sea-level
(tropical). The minimum temperature is
-2°C; optimally between
15 -
28°C. The optimal rainfall is
1000
mm/year. Without irrigation the annual rainfall should be between
500 -
1000mm (L/m²). The optimal soil-pH is between
6.0 -
8.0 in a soil texture of
water. To salt it is
tolerant to wind
tolerant and to fire
a bit tolerant.
Pests and Diseases
Acacia farnesiana is susceptible to the following pests:
Cacoecia micaceana
. And it's susceptible to the following diseases:
Anthracnose ,
,
.
Seed Propagation
Seeds are
orthodox and can be stored for
300 months. There are approximative
12000
seeds/kg. The seeds can be propagated as followed:
- (1) Store harvested seeds dry at room temperature
- (3) Seeds germinate above ground (epigeous)
- (2) Soak the seeds overnight in warm water before sowing.
