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Vachellia astringens; photograph RAP, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF CC BYRAP, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF

Vachellia astringens (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) Speg.

Fabaceae · Brazil South, Argentina Northeast +4

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Vachellia astringens (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) Speg.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, (Gillies) Speg.

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Vachellia astringens, photograph ANDRÉS GONZÁLEZ, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIFVachellia astringens, photograph ANDRÉS GONZÁLEZ, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIFVachellia astringens, photograph ANDRÉS GONZÁLEZ, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIFVachellia astringens, photograph Tomás Tamagno, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFVachellia astringens, photograph Tomás Tamagno, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFVachellia astringens, photograph Tomás Tamagno, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF 17 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-1.4°C
Record low -8.7 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
29°C
Jan and Dec at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,028mm
9 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
18–45DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes May to September (November to March at the habitat), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Vachellia astringens is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is a tree native to south America. The species was described in 1833, and is listed as of Least Concern by the IUCN.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Vachellia astringens", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Vachellia

Vachellia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. Its species were considered members of genus Acacia until 2009. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Vachellia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (720 mm of 993 mm) falls in November to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 22.5 °C against a yearly mean of 17.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: May to September.

Rain

993 mm in the median year at the habitat, 720 mm of it November to March. Wettest month January at 156 mm, driest month June at 10 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 870 mm to 1,319 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,028 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 993 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 45 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -1.4 °C, the absolute minimum -8.7 °C, 486 frost nights in 44 years, 11.0 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 36.7 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 5.4 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 3.0 °C to 8.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 29.4 °C in January (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -1.4 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 53 to 60% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -368 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Vachellia astringens through the yearWarmest months January and December, mean daily high 29 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 5.4 °C; 993 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost36.7° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-8.7° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 18–45RH 53–60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 37 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C29 / 25–3128 / 24–2926 / 23–2822 / 20–2419 / 16–2016 / 14–1816 / 13–1719 / 16–2021 / 18–2224 / 22–2627 / 24–2829 / 25–30
Night °C19 / 16–2218 / 15–2116 / 14–2013 / 10–169 / 7–136 / 4–105 / 3–97 / 5–109 / 6–1213 / 10–1615 / 13–1818 / 15–20
Rain mm156 / 121–232139 / 118–171147 / 122–16683 / 65–16034 / 24–8710 / 6–5417 / 14–3813 / 10–4339 / 26–6477 / 56–126124 / 100–159154 / 115–211
DLI45 / 43–4539 / 39–4133 / 31–3324 / 24–2620 / 19–2118 / 16–1920 / 18–2126 / 23–2732 / 30–3338 / 37–3943 / 42–4445 / 43–46
RH %56 / 55–5858 / 56–5959 / 57–6060 / 58–6159 / 57–6158 / 56–6256 / 54–6054 / 52–5853 / 52–5754 / 52–5755 / 53–5656 / 54–57
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 37 grid cells holding the 53 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2445:2298 (-32.275, -65.075). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -8.7 °C, 1st-percentile night -1.4 °C, 99th-percentile day 36.7 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 37 distinct grid cells holding 53 of the 53 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2445:2298 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -32.50_-65.000, lapse-corrected -368 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 716 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBrazil South, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Chile North, Paraguay, Uruguay · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-31.2, -64.58 · in the densest population, 47 records (48% of those in range)
Kew's description“tree” · “subtropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 97 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 53 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 48 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 4 km away. 6 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 44 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 97 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Vachellia astringens, photograph 1did not loadVachellia astringens, photograph 2did not loadVachellia astringens, photograph 3did not loadVachellia astringens, photograph 4did not loadVachellia astringens, photograph 5did not loadVachellia astringens, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: ANDRÉS GONZÁLEZ, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIF (3); Tomás Tamagno, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (3).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Portulaca obtusa Portulaca obtusa Argentinian Purslane Photo: CC BY, Lucas CarboneChamaecereus silvestrii Chamaecereus silvestrii Peanut cactus Photo: CC BY, LjažGomphrena pulchella Gomphrena pulchella Amaranthaceae Photo: CC BY, María ZetaLycium ciliatum Lycium ciliatum Solanaceae Photo: CC BY, Marcos GramagliaNierembergia linariifolia Nierembergia linariifolia Dwarf cupflower Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloGeoffroea decorticans Geoffroea decorticans Chañar Photo: CC BY, Gastón Repetto

Other Vachellia 38 in the reference

Vachellia abyssinica Vachellia abyssinica Nyanga flat-top Photo: CC BY, Edmundas GreimasVachellia albicorticata Vachellia albicorticata Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Silvia TenVachellia aroma Vachellia aroma Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Rocío Esmeralda PoseVachellia bravoensis Vachellia bravoensis Huisachillo Photo: CC BY, Clifton Ladd, C.W.B.Vachellia campeachiana Vachellia campeachiana Boat-spine Acacia Photo: CC0, Sinaloa SilvestreVachellia caven Vachellia caven Roman cassie Photo: CC BY, Karim HaddadVachellia choriophylla Vachellia choriophylla Cinnecord Photo: CC BY, Tom FieldVachellia collinsii Vachellia collinsii Bull horn acacia Photo: CC BY, Eamon CorbettVachellia constricta Vachellia constricta Whitethorn acacia Photo: CC BY, CK2AZVachellia cornigera Vachellia cornigera Bullhorn wattle Photo: CC BY, Carlos Domínguez-RodríguezVachellia cucuyo Vachellia cucuyo Fabaceae Photo: CC0, Yolanda M. LeonVachellia davyi Vachellia davyi Cork-bark Thorn Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony Rebelo all 39 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Acacia atramentaria; Acacia farnesiana var. atramentaria; Acacia prosopoma; Prosopis astringens. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipedia

The record

Family
Fabaceae
Described by
(Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) Speg.
Native to
Brazil South, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest +3
Wild records
97 in range · 48 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF's key 3795623 is Vachellia astringens (Gillies) Speg.; the page links Kew's Vachellia astringens (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) Speg., and the name is cited as Kew cites it
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 3 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (2 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -32.50_-65.000, lapse-corrected -368 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 13 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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