Is this an Acacia tree??

Is this an Acacia tree??

I'm trying to help my 77 year old dad identify his favorite tree, so that he could possibly find another. He is located in S.E. Florida in Venice. The "Sweet Acacia" has yellow pom-pom-like flowers, yet this one does not flower. Has anyone any idea? Thank you!

It seems you forgot to load photos of the leaves, seed pods, flowers, whole tree, bark, etc.

There's over 900 species, so it could be difficult.

Thank you. I had some technical difficulties.....It doesn't seem to have seed pods, nor does it flower. I'll get a pic of the bark tomorrow!

It appears they've changed the way Acacia's are classified, some have retained the name 'Acacia' for Australian species only and used other names for non-Australian species, whereas some have ignored the new convention and retained the old classification! (Wish they'd sort this type of crap out on a world wide basis and achieve consensus!)

Anyway, the following websites may assist you - the first one asks for input data regarding the plant so you will be required to do some measurements with a simple rule, and take a few other observations.


webpage


webpage


The species could be non-Australian so, failing the above searches, it may be worthwhile emailing the Australian National Botanic Gardens with a series of photos - they may actually assist you regardless of the plants origin.

Email:   anbg-info@anbg.gov.au


Happy hunting.

Another possibility is the Mimosa Tree. Your tree's limb structure seems odd for it though, unless it has been pollarded to keep it small. Example illustration of pollarded trees here. https://www.witchhazeldesigns.com/winter-bloom-blog/2018/1/28/agroforestry-food-fiber-and-timber

I had one that didn't bloom until it was five years old. I'm certain if it's age because it sprouted in my garden. I moved it to the front yard, looking forward to the blooms.

Catalog with a good example of normal tree structure. https://www.starkbros.com/growing-guide/article/summer-color-mimosa-tree My young tree had only one trunk, not old enough for the multi stem structure.

I'm pretty sure it's not an Acacia. My first guess was Albizia, but now I think it might be Delonix regia? Once it flowers the id will be more obvious, VERY obvious if it is Delonix! Beautiful tree.

Agree with Ben, good chance it's a delonix regia also known as red flame tree and often wrongly called a jacaranda. A possibly boring fact about the delonix regia is that it is a legume but it doesn't fix nitrogen, I believe the only example of a non nitrogen fixing legume known to mankind. You could dig the roots and if you find N fixing nodules you know it ISNT a D Regia.

This tree is definitely some kind of legume tree in the Pea family. I tend towards D regia due to the leaf shape which is slightly different and more regular than other similar trees such as acacia, palo verde, mesquite and Leucaena Leucocephala.Also the others mentioned will flower when only months old and knee high, whilst the D Regia can take longer to reach flowering age.

Steve Farmer wrote:Agree with Ben, good chance it's a delonix regia also known as red flame tree and often wrongly called a jacaranda. A possibly boring fact about the delonix regia is that it is a legume but it doesn't fix nitrogen, I believe the only example of a non nitrogen fixing legume known to mankind.

Hi Steve, does Acrocarpus fraxinifolius nodulate in your country? Another beautiful legume tree that is almost but not quite cool tolerant enough to grow here (there are some, but not many).  N-fixing trees that don't fix N without their appropriate rhizobia never seem to do well here, even if climatically suited. Mimosa scabrella is a perfect example, grows in a cooler climate in habitat but here they just germinate easily, grow about 100mm then stop. Tipuana tipu is another example, most don't seem to want to grow much  but for some reason there is one strain I have found that nodulates here and grows very well. There is a whole lot going on there that no one seems to understand.