A fast growing, deciduous tree reaching up to 12 meters in height with bipinnately compound foliage on young trees and pinnately compound leaves on more mature plants. Bright green in the summer turning golden yellow in late summer through into autumn. In late spring the cream coloured, pea like flowers are produced in abundance and are strongly scented. These are followed by long, bean like pods.
It is not a tree you would want to bump into on a dark night as they are often heavily thorned. The thorns are quite formidable reaching anything from 3 to 10cm long but can reach up to 20cm in length. Sometimes they are just single but are usually branched into numerous points. They are relatively soft when young but harden as they age, turning deep red and eventually becoming brittle and a dark grey in colour. The thorns are thought to have evolved to protect the trees from browsing megafauna during the Pleistocene epoch.
Very hardy and tough tolerating most soils and full sun.
Sent as a young plant in a 9cm pot.
Additional photos By Kevmin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8267558, By Greg Hume - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17878744, By Greg Hume - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17878744.
