Senegalia greggii

A rounded and much-branched shrub to 5 ft. tall, (occasionally tree-like to 15 ft.) with twice-pinnate, gray-green foliage; creamy-white flowers; contorted pods; and cat claw-shaped thorns. The flowers occur in bushy, 2 in. spikes and are fragrant. Occasionally a small tree with a broad crown. One of the most despised southwestern shrubs. As indicated by the common names (including the Spanish, una de gato), the sharp, stout, hooked spines, like a cat’s claws, tear clothing and flesh.
The species was named in honor of Josiah Gregg, (1806-1850). He was born in Overton County, Tennessee. In the summer of 1841 and again in the winter of 1841-42 he traveled through Texas, up the Red River valley, and later from Galveston to Austin and by way of Nacogdoches to Arkansas. He took note of Texas geology, trees, prevalent attitudes, and politics. At the same time, Gregg began compiling his travel notes into a readable manuscript. His “Commerce of the Prairies”, which came out in two volumes in 1844, was an immediate success. In 1848 he joined a botanical expedition to western Mexico and California, during which he corresponded with and sent specimens to the eminent botanist George Engelmann in St. Louis. Subsequently, the American Botanical Society added the Latinized epithet, “greggii” in his honor to twenty-three species of plants. Gregg died in 1850 during an expedition in California.

Senegalia Greggii

Senegalia greggii

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