Senegalia berlandieri Seeds | (acacia )
LATIN NAME: Senegalia berlandieri
COMMON NAME: Guajillo
Plant Profile
A distinctive member of its genus, Guajillo (Senegalia berlandieri) is a shrub in the pea family. Guajillo spreads its feathery, twice-divided leaves and small, creamy-white, fluffy heads, and the whole shrub carries the fine, open, feathery look of the dry country. It is a shrub of open, sunny, sharp-draining ground. The flowering period doubles as a feeding season for bees and other pollinators. Not many plants ask so little and repay so much.
Science & Biotechnology
Botanists studying the pea family regularly include Senegalia berlandieri in comparative work, and the species also appears in horticultural trials aimed at gardeners and growers. Gardeners benefit directly from its long cultivation: what the plant will do in a garden is well understood.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Guajillo has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Guajillo is a fine, generous shrub of dry garden and study collection. It is a fine, generous shrub of open, sunny, sharp-draining garden. Give young plants sharp-draining soil and open, sunny spot, and fluffy heads will rise in springs to come. Getting it going is easy; keeping it going is easier still.
Senegalia gives gum arabic’s relatives and tannin barks; in African folk medicine the genus serves widely in wound and digestive remedies.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Guajillo under ordinary good conditions. Level a tray of loose seed compost, sow evenly, cover to about the seed’s own depth, and keep it moist in full light. A spell of cool, moist conditions ahead of sowing brings the seed along nicely and supports even germination. When the young plants are big enough to handle, space them into pots or a nursery row and let them size up before their final move.
Our Take
Guajillo earns its space through character rather than fuss. A few weeks of cold, moist stratification before sowing mirrors its natural cycle.
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