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Vachellia cornigera (L.) Seigler & Ebinger

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Medicinal Use

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This plant is used to delay the effects of snake venom. A piece of bark as long as your forearm is stripped from the tree and chewed. All of the exudate is swallowed and the resulting fiber is placed on the area where the person was bitten. A piece of root is then chewed as the affected person travels to medical aid. This will not stop the effects of the venom, only slow down the effects long enough to obtain medical aid.
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Comprehensive Description

provided by Smithsonian Contributions to Botany
Acacia cornigera (L.) Willdenow

Acacia cornigera (L.) Willdenow, 1806:1080.

Mimosa cornigera L., 1753:520.

Acacia cornigera var. americana Dc., 1825:460.

Acacia spadicigera Schlechtendal and Chamisso, 1830:594.

Acacia cubensis Schenck, 1913:360.

Acacia nicoyensis Schenck, 1913:360.

Acacia hernandezii Safford, 1914:358.

Acacia furcella Safford, 1914:359.

Tauroceras spadicigerum (Schlechtendal and Chamisso) Britton and Rose, 1928:85.

Tauroceras cornigerum (L.) Britton and Rose, 1928:86 [excluding synonymy].

Acacia interjecta Schenck, 1913:361.

Acacia rossiana Schenck, 1913:361.

Acacia campecheana Schenck, 1913:361.

Acacia turgida Safford in Wheeler, 142:plate 45.

Acacia cornigera is the best known of the swollen-thorn acacias. It is readily distinguished from all other swollen-thorn acacias by the unique combination of elongated “canoe-shaped” petiolar nectaries (Figure 8B), very elongated inflorescences (Figure 12A), thorns usually round in cross section, and completely indehiscent seed pods.

Linnaeus’ type specimen of A. cornigera is a sterile branch representative of the eastern Mexican portion of the total population; it was collected from a cultivated plant in Holland, presumably grown from Mexican seed (Rudd, 1964). Rudd has compared pinnules of the type with those of A. sphaerocephala and found that the pinnules of the type have the readily visible secondary venation lacking on A. sphaerocephala

leaflets. Owing to the peculiar thorns of A. mayana, there is no doubt that the type does not belong to that species.

The type specimen of A. spadicigera (site 1) is easily identified as A. cornigera because of its elongate inflorescences and thorns round in cross section. Its straight short thorns are representative of A. cornigera from lowland wet sites in Veracruz. Safford’s type specimen of A. hernandezii is unmistakably from the northern wet lowlands portion of the A. cornigera population. A. cornigera is the only species of swollen-thorn acacia in the Rascon area (site 2). Safford’s leafless type specimen of A. furcella is representative of the A. cornigera population in the Lake Catemaco region (site 3). The type has the very dark brown thorns and widely spread type B thorns characteristic of high-elevation, eastern Mexican A. cornigera. The inflorescences of the types of both A. hernandezii and A. furcella are representative of A. cornigera inflorescences.

Schenck’s type of A. rossiana (site 4) is representative of that portion of the A. cornigera population inland from Minatitlan, Veracruz, Mexico. I have been unable to locate his type specimen for A. campecheana; possibly it was destroyed at Berlin. He states that its leaves are like those of A. spadicigera and A. rossiana, and it was therefore most likely collected from that part of the A. cornigera population that extends along the coastal lowlands from Veracruz to Yucatan. Its name suggests that it was collected in Campeche, and there appear to be no swollen-thorn acacias in that area that could be confused with A. cornigera. Schenck described A. interjecta from material growing in the Singapore and Kew botanic gardens; the description agrees with that of A. cornigera and the seed probably came from Mexico, since that appears to have been the source of most introduced A. cornigera seed. Schenck described A. nicoyensis from material representative of the southern end of the geographic range of A. cornigera (site 77). His type specimen has the white and slightly flattened type A thorn found on Costa Rican A. cornigera growing in very dry and insolated sites. The inflorescences and seed pods of the type of A. nicoyensis are unmistakably A. cornigera.

Schenck’s type specimen of A. cubensis was taken from a cultivated plant (site 82); the white and partially recurved type B thorns indicate that the seed came from the A. cornigera population some where north of Guatemala. A. cornigera apparently occurs only in gardens in Cuba and its presence unlikely is due to natural introduction by birds or other means. The absence of ant entrance holes in the thorns of the type specimen of A. cubensis indicates that the ants have not yet been introduced to Cuba.

Since A. turgida is supported only by a photograph (Wheeler, 1942), it probably represents a name that Safford intended to propose. I cannot find the locality (site 5) for the specimen, but it appears to have been collected from that rather distinctive portion of the A. cornigera population growing where the Pan-American highway crosses the Guatemala-Mexico border.

KEY COLLECTION LOCALITIES*

Mexico:

1. Type of A. spadicigera: La Laguna Verde, Veracruz, Mexico. March 1820, Schiede, no. 685.

2. Type of A. hernandezii: Rascon, S.L.P., Mexico. VII–19–22–1905, E. Palmer, no. 669.

3. Type of A. furcella: Catamaco, Veracruz, Mexico (300 m). IV–26–1894, E.W. Nelson, no. 427.

4. Type of A. rossiana: Santa Lucrezia, Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Veracruz, Mexico. X–8–1906, H. Ross, no. 918.

5. “Type” of A. turgida: Herba Santa, Chiapas, Mexico (see plate 45 in Wheeler, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, 90:1–262).

6. Guatemala-Mexico border (near Ciudad Cuahtemoc) to 19.0 mi N on Hgy. 190, Chiapas (720–600–780 m). VIII–7–1966, DHJ, no. 499; VIII–16–1967, DHJ, nc (common to rare).

7. 2.6 mi NE to 0.9 mi W Chiapa de Corzo on Hgy. 190, Chiapas (580–475 m). VIII–17–1967, DHJ, nc (common to rare).

8. 9.7 mi W Tuxtla Gutierrez to 8 mi NE Cintalapa on Hgy. Chiapas 190 (860–1090–570 m). VIII–18–1967, DHJ, nc (common to rare to occasional).

9. 13.5 to 9.0 mi E of intersection of Hgy. 190 and 185 (La Ventosa), Oaxaca (80 m). VIII–18–1967, DHJ, nc (com mon to rare).

10. 9.9 to 23.4 mi N of intersection of Hgy. 190 and 185 (La Ventosa), Oaxaca (210–290–250 m). VIII–18–1967, DHJ, nc (common to occasional).

11. 33.3 mi N of intersection of Hgy. 190 and 185 (La Ventosa) to Acayucan, Oaxaca-Veracruz (230–40 m). VIII–18–1967, DHJ, nc (common).

12. Near Salina Cruz, Oaxaca (sea level). X–3–1965, DHJ, nc (occasional).

13. Coatzacoalcos to Veracruz on Hgy. 180, Veracruz (0–350–0 m). III–21–1964, DHJ, no. 1935; VI–15–1966, DHJ, nc (occasional to common).

14. 8.3 mi SE bridge over Rio Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, to Cardenas, Tabasco, on Hgy. 180 (0–40 m). VI–15–1966, DHJ, nc (very rare, about 1–2 plants per 2 miles).

15. Cardenas to 37.1 mi S, Tabasco (40–100 m). VI–17–1966, DHJ, nc (rare to common).

16. Cardenas to Paraiso, Tabasco (40–10 m). VI–17–1966, DHJ, nc (rare).

17. Cardenas to Ciudad del Carmen, Tabasco-Campeche (40–0 m). VI–22–1966, DHJ, no. 494 (rare, and only on well drained sites), fl.

18. Campeche to Ruinas Edzna (29 mi E on Hgy. 180), Campeche (0–50 m). VI–22–1966, DHJ, nc (very rare to occasional).

19. Hopelchen to Ticul on Hgy. 180, Campeche-Yucatan 50–80). VI–28–1966, DHJ, nc (very rare to occasional).

20. 12.2 mi S Peto (Santa Rosa) on Hgy. to Cd. Chetumal, Yucatan-Quintana Roo (50–80 m). VI–29–1966, DHJ, nc (common), fl.

21. Cd. Chetumal to 69.6 mi NW on Hgy. to Peto, Quintana Roo (0–20 m). VI–30–1966, DHJ, nc (common), fl.

22. 30 mi S to Campeche on Hgy. 180, Campeche (0–80–0 m). VI–25–1966, DHJ, no. 491; VII–8–1966, DHJ, nc (rare to common).

23. 3.2 mi E Cruz Grande to 19.1 mi NW Puerto Escondido on Hgy. 200, Guerrero-Oaxaca (50–250–70 m). VI–18–1967, DHJ, nc (rare to common to occasional).

24. 9.3 mi N Playa Pie de la Cuesta to 16.5 mi SE Papanoa on Hgy. 200, Guerrero (0–20 m). VI–17–1967, DHJ, nc (very common in swamps, absent on dry hills).

25. Alvarado to Tlacotalpan to Cd. Aleman to Las Tinajas to Paso del Toro, Veracruz (0–100–0 m). Throughout the year, DHJ, no. 1939 (common), flower February-May.

26. Tierra Blanca to La Granja to Temascal, Veracruz-Oaxaca (20–70 m). Throughout the year, DHJ, nos. 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 (very common).

27. Shores of the lake behind Presa Miguel Aleman, Temascal, Oaxaca (70 m). X–20–1963, DHJ, no. 1937; XI–3–1963, DHJ, nc (occasional to very common).

28. Cd. Aleman to Loma Bonita to Rio Playa Vicente, Veracruz-Oaxaca-Veracruz (50–100 m). XI–4–1963, DHJ, no. 1938 (common to very rare on red clay hills).

29. Cd. Aleman, Veracruz to Valle Nacional, Oaxaca, on Hgy. to Oaxaca, XI–6–1963, DHJ, nc (common to occasional).

30. 22.8 to 27.5 mi SW Conejos (turn off of Hgy. 140 to Huatusco) on Hgy. to Huatusco to Cordoba, Veracruz. XI–10–1963, DHJ, nc (common to rare).

31. 4.3 mi E Cordoba, Veracruz on Hgy. 150, Veracruz (800–0 m). X–16–1963, DHJ, nc (rare to very common).

32. Hgy. 150 SE to San Ignacio de la Llave, Veracruz (60–10 m). X–16–1963, DHJ, nc (common).

33. Tampico to Tuxpam on Hgy. 105, Veracruz (0–100–0 m). 1–2–1964, DHJ, nos.1942, 1943; VI–13–1966, DHJ, nc (common to rare).

34. Tuxpan to 1.2 mi S Villa A. Camacho on Hgy. 130, Vera cruz. 1–2–1964, DHJ, no. 1940; VI–13–1966, DHJ, nc (occasional to rare).

35. Poza Rica to Nautla on Hgy. 180, Veracruz (50–0 m), 1–20–1964, DHJ, nc (occasional to rare).

36. 6 mi SW Tamazunchale to Cd. Valles on Hgy. 85, San Luis Potosi (500–100 m). 1–1–1964, DHJ, no. 1936; XII–31–1963, DHJ, nc (rare to common).

37. 36.6 mi E Rio Verde to Cd. Valles on Hgy. 86, San Luis Potosi (1140–100 m). VIII–24–1967, DHJ, nc (rare to common).

38. Cd. Valles to 6.4 mi N Antiguo Morelos on Hgy. 85, San Luis Potosi-Tamaulipas (100–250 m). VIII–24–1967, DHJ, nc (rare).

39. Antiguo Morelos to 20 mi NW Cd. del Maiz, Tamaulipas-San Luis Potosi (250–? m). XII–31–1963, DHJ, nc (common on wetter hillsides).

40. Cd. Valles to Tampico on Hgy. 70, San Luis Potosi-Veracruz (100–10 m). VI–11–1966, DHJ, nos. 496, 497; VIII–24–1967, DHJ, nc (common to occasional).

41. Pt. Talisman (Guatemala-Mexico border) to 3 mi N Arriaga on Hgy. 200, Chiapas (50–150 m). 1–11–1965, DHJ, no. 1047 (common).

42. Presa Benito Juarez, near Jalapa de Marquez on Hgy. 190, Oaxaca (200 m). IX–7–1968, DHJ, nc (1 plant).

43. Pichucalco, Chiapas. 1–1907, G.N. Collins and C.B. Doyle, no. 260 (US 692169) mp.

44. 3 mi S Pinola Las Rosas along road to Soyatitan, Venustiano Carranza (W of Comitan), Chiapas (1400 m). VII–27–1965, D.E. Breedlove, no. 11367 (US 2484541), fl.

45. Zacualpan, Veracruz (1000 m). VII–1917, C.A. Purpus, no. 7748 (US 884536), fl., and IX–1908, H. Schenck, no. 836 (US 764665).

46. Fortuno, Rio Coatzacoalcos. III–1937, L. Williams (F 897476), fl.

British Honduras:

47. Sta. Elena to Belize on main Hgy. (5–0 m). VI–30–1966, DHJ, nc (rare to occasional), fl.

48. El Cayo, El Cayo Prov. V–5–1931, H.H. Bartlett, no. 13007 (US 1493273), mp.

Guatemala:

49. Escuintla to Taxisco along Hgy. CA–7, Depto. Escuintla-Santa Rosa (330–100 m). 1–13–1965, DHJ, nc (occasional).

50. Escuintla, Dcpto. Escuintla, to Puente Talisman, Depto. San Marcos (Guatamela-Mexico border) on Hgy. CA–7 (330–50 m). VII–16–1966, DHJ, no. 466; 1–11–1965, DHJ, nos. 1045, 1046 (common to occasional), fl.

51. Retalhuleu SW to Champerico, Depto. Retalhuleu (200–0 m). VIII–1–1966, DHJ, nc (occasional).

52. Retaljuleu to 14.0 mi NE on Hgy. S, Depto. Retalhuleu (200–900 m). VII–28–1966, DHJ, no. 464 (common to rare).

53. Escuintla to 7.4 mi NE on Hgy. 3, Depto. Escuintla (330–880 m). VIII–13–1967, DHJ, nc (common to occasional).

54. 0.3 mi SW to 4.1 mi NE Los Amates on Hgy. CA–9 (150–110 m). VIII–9–1967, DHJ, nc (common).

55. Finca San Joaquin, Slopes above Rio Negro, near San Cristobal de Verapaz, Depto. Alta Verapaz (1420–1080 m). VIII–14–1967, DHJ, nc (rare to common).

56. 14.9 mi SE to Guatemala-Mexico border (near Ciudad Cuauhtemoc), Depto. Huehuetenango (900–1000–720 m). VIII–6–1967, DHJ, nc (common).

57. Patalul, Depto. Solola. 11–14–1906, W.A. Kellerman, no. 5915 (US 578841), fl.

58. Finca Sepacuite, Depto. Alto Verapaz. IV–1905, O.F. Cook and R.F. Griggs, no. 8 (US 590344), mp.

59. 1–2 mi N Ocos, Depto. San Marcos (sea level). III–15–1940. J.A. Steyermark, no. 37867 (F 1035247).

Honduras:

60. 12.5 to 19.5 mi NW Siguatepec on Tegucigalpa-Puerto Cortes Hgy., Depto. Comayagua (910–540 m). VII–31–1967, DHJ, nc (common to very rare).

61. 0.7 mi N Rio Undo to 18.6 mi S Puerto Cortes on Tegucigalpa-Puerto Cortes Hgy., Depto. Cortes (90–10 m). VIII–2–1967, DHJ, nc (common to occasional).

62. San Pedro Sula to 8.1 mi SW on Hgy. to Santa Rosa, Depto. Cortes (90–130 m). VIII–2–1967, DHJ, nc (occasional along streams).

63.20.6 mi NE to 28.4 mi SW Sula on San Pedro Sula-Santa Rosa Hgy., Depto. Santa Barbara (260–780 m). VIII–3–1967, DHJ, nc (common to rare), fl.

64. Vegas del Rio Agua, 3 km from Yoro, Depto. Yoro (1000 m). V–8–1956, A. Molina, no. 6807 (US 2412019), fl.

EI Salvador:

65. (Depto. Cuscatlan) San Salvador on San Salvador-Nueva Ocotopeque Hgy. (420–590 m). VIII–4–1967, DHJ, nc (common to rare).

66. 6 mi E San Salvador on Interamerican Hgy., Depto. San Salvador (650 m). 1–14–1965, DHJ, nc (occasional), fl.

67. 29.7 to 31.6 mi E La Libertad on La Libertad-La Union Hgy., Depto. La Paz (50–80 m). VIII–5–1967, DHJ, nc (rare).

68. Intersection of Hgy. from La Herradura with La Libertad-La Union Hgy., Depto. La Paz (20 m). VIII–5–1967, DHJ, nc (1 plant).

69. 15.2 to 10.2 mi SE Santa Ana on Interamerican Hgy., Depto. Santa Ana (440–700 m). VIII–6–1967, DHJ, nc (common).

70. San Vicente, Depto. San Vicente (350–500 m). III–2–1922, P.C. Standley, no. 21687 (US 137448, US 1137096), fl.

71. Ateos, Depto. La Libertad. IV–17–1922, P.C Standley, no. 23360 (US 1139047), fl.

72. San Martin to Laguna de Ilopango, Depto. San Salvador. IV–1–1922, P.C. Standley, no. 22580 (US 1138317), fl.

Nicaragua:

73. Penas Blancas (Depto. Rivas) to 7.2 mi NW on Hgy. 2 (50 m). VII–25–1967, DHJ, nc (common along rivers).

74. 3.4 mi SE Leon on Hgy. 12, Depto. Leon (20 m). VI–27–1967, DHJ, nc (30 acre patch), fl.

75. 1.2 mi W Matagalpa to 3.6 mi N on Hgy. 3, Depto. Matagalpa (650–880 m). VII–28–1967, DHJ, nc (common), fl.

76. 8 mi S Esteli on Hgy. 1 (940 m). VII–28–1967, DHJ, nc (I plant).

Costa Rica:

77. Type of A. nicoyensis: Shores of the Gulf of Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica (sea level). February 1900, Tonduz, no. 13538.

78. 20 mi NW turnoff of Interamerican Hgy. to Puntarenas, to Penas Blancas (border of Costa Rica and Nicaragua) on Interamerican Hgy., Guanacaste Prov. (10–100 m). January-September, periodically in 1963–1967, DHJ, nc (rare to common, patchy distribution and associated with wet spots), fl., February-April.

79. Liberia to Playa Coco along Hgy. 21, Guanacaste Prov. (100–0 m). January-September, periodically in 1963–1967, DHJ, nc (rare to very common, primarily in wet spots), fl. and mp., in February.

80. Hda. Palo Verde, COMELCO, Bagaces, Guanacaste Prov. (sea level). IV–2–1966, DHJ, nc (occasional).

81. Filadelphia, Guanacaste Prov. III–2–1946, Echeverria, no. 279 (F 1442853), mp.

Cuba:

82. Type of A. cubensis: North coast of Cuba. IV–21–1963, C. Wright, no. 2402.

NATURAL HISTORY

Acacia cornigera (Figure 70) and A. collinsii have the greatest geographic and ecological range of all the swollen-thorn acacias. The riparian and swamp habitats that were occupied by A. cornigera previous to human interference are in lowland areas that are ideal for slash-burn milpa agriculture. A. cornigera has probably been common in lowland agriculture fallow fields as long as Indians have lived in the Central American lowlands. Since occupied A. cornigera may reach reproductive maturity in 3 to 4 years, and since birds, people, and cattle distribute its seeds widely in second growth vegetation, A. cornigera populations have expanded widely into pastures, roadsides, and short-fallow fields generated by contemporary agricultural practices. At many locations, A. cornigera is found in all types of disturbance sites, from creek bottoms to hilltops. Only A. sphaerocephala and A. collinsii are on occasion found in drier habitats than A. cornigera. The natural history of A. cornigera in eastern Mexico has been described in detail (Janzen, 1967b), and the comments in the remainder of this section are designed to highlight the way it differs in other parts of its range from that portion of the population.

Local short-distance dispersals of A. cornigera by

humans make it difficult to understand its pre-Colombian range. For example, at site 42 in western Mexico, a single A. cornigera was found growing by a new hydroelectric dam. The closest native population of A. cornigera is several hundred miles away in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and along the west coast in the Acapulco region (sites 23, 24) (also an introduction?). This plant probably arrived by either road-building machinery or through humans; farmers and Indians often eat the sweet pulp around the seeds and ingest many seeds simultaneously (Janzen, 1967b). The work crews on public construction in Mexico often come from several hundred miles away. If more than one plant was introduced in the area of the dam, it is likely that viable seeds will be produced. The bruchids that normally kill most A. cornigera seeds will be absent, at least at first, and this swollen-thorn acacia will likely spread down the watercourse away from the dam. It will probably not spread around the lake since the general area of the lake is extremely dry and water levels will fluctuate greatly. The single plant was occupied by Pseudomyrmex ferruginea. The queen probably came from the population of A. collinsii about 25 miles to the south or the population of A. hindsii 50 miles to the northwest. As a second example, in the central Yucatan Peninsula, A. cornigera is only common around small settlements, cattle corrals, and old Indian ruins (sites 18 to 21). These small sites are also usually the wetter habitats in the region (the outlying areas are heavily occupied by A. collinsii), and it is impossible to know if the presence of A. cornigera is due to recent and frequent introduction by humans and cattle, or by natural dispersal by birds.

Deliberate long-distance introduction of A. cornigera may have some interesting repercussions in the future. Introduced to the southern tip of Florida as a garden plant, A. cornigera has occasionally escaped to form feral populations (e.g., Oneco and Chapman Field, US 1433083 and US 764685 in the U.S. National Herbarium). These plants are severely damaged by the frosts that occasionally damage orange orchards, but they do flower and set fertile seeds if there are several together. Obligate acacia-ants have not been introduced, but it would be interesting to examine the interaction of occupied swollen-thorn acacias with the subtropical communities of southern Florida. Reproductively isolated from the Mexican parent genotype, A. cornigera might even develop a frost-resistant population in Florida. A. cornigera has also escaped on Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Cuba in the Caribbean (US 2229384, US 1714928, US 764657). Here, with a climate not unlike that of some parts of eastern lowland Mexico, the populations (again without their ants) have a chance to expand into the native vegetation just as many other species of introduced trees have done on Caribbean islands. The central question here is whether the herbivore pressure in the island communities is strong enough to require occupation by obligate acacia-ants for the survival of a large breeding population of A. cornigera. All introductions to the Old World tropics appear to have been to botanical gardens, and I have no information on their escape into natural habitats.

Acacia cornigera and A. collinsii occupy adjacent habitats over much of their range. Always A. cornigera is in the wetter creek bottoms and swamp edges while A. collinsii is on the drier hillsides (e.g., Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica). In the wetter parts of the range, A. hindsii and A. cornigera often occur together (e.g., Pacific foothills of Guatemala) and here, A. cornigera is the drier hillside plant with A. hindsii along the watercourses. The distinctiveness of these separations by habitat was probably once very clear. Current agricultural practices have rendered wetter habitats drier and more inso-lated by clearing the vegetation, with the consequence that the formerly separated swollen-thorn acacias now grow side by side.

In the southern part of its range, the A. cornigera population is much more broken up into sub populations than in eastern Mexico where it is found in all sorts of disturbance and climatic regimes from sea level to 1200 m, and from areas with a 7–month dry season to areas with almost no obvious dry season. In habitats where one expects to find A. cornigera in the northern part of the range, one instead encounters A. collinsii and A. hindsii. To determine the role of competitive exclusion in this system, we need much more information on the parasites and predators (specifically, bruchid beetles) that these species have in common, and the ability of each to grow and maintain the largest possible obligate acacia-ant colony in the shortest period of time.

Why A. cornigera has stopped its southward movement in Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica is very enigmatic. A. collinsii continues south to Colombia with a nearly continuous population that occupies many habitats similar to those occupied by A. cornigera further north. It may well be that it has not stopped at all, but rather that it is in the process of slowly moving southward. The only possible ecological explanation that comes readily to mind is that the Guanacaste plants of A. cornigera are specialists at surviving the severe dry season there and therefore cannot advance slowly through the wet-forest area immediately down the coast from Puntarenas. What is needed is a longdistance dispersal of more than one seed simultaneously from Guanacaste to the dry Pacific coast of Panama.

The dependency of A. cornigera on a colony of obligate acacia-ants for survival to reproductive maturity has been well documented for lowland eastern Mexican habitats (Janzen, 1967a). Judging from the badly damaged condition of naturally unoccupied A. cornigera throughout its range, this dependency is the general case. It is clear, however, that the intensity of damage to unoccupied A. cornigera varies from one habitat to another, just as it did from one season to another in the lowlands of eastern Mexico. High-elevation sites subjected to wet, cool, and windy weather (e.g., site 75) produce the healthiest appearing unoccupied A. cornigera, but even here it is doubtful if an unoccupied tree can survive until reproductive maturity unless growing in a cluster of acacias in a large and well-grazed cattle pasture. In central highland Guatemala (e.g., site 53) and on the highland Atlantic side of Honduras (site 60), A. cornigera is occasionally “occupied” by a large colony of Carnponotus planatus which appear to compete directly for thorns with the obligate acacia-ants colony. The C. planatus patrol the acacia quite effectively and the plants are healthy in appearance. How long an acacia can be occupied by C. planatus and survive is not clear. On some occasions, a colony of C. planatus and one of obligate acacia-ants occupy the same acacia, but usually in different branches. C. planatus occurs throughout much of the range of swollen-thorn acacias but in other areas does not appear to offer any protection to the acacia. It also lives in hollow twigs in many other species of tree.

Acacia cornigera has gained the same “freedom” from herbivorous insects gained by A. hindsii in areas of intense agriculture (e.g., site 74 in El Salvador); however, it is much rarer than A. hindsii in these sites and will probably become extinct in the near future. Seedlings are almost never encountered. Without the ants to keep the vines off, the stiff and upright young shrub of A. cornigera

makes an excellent vine standard leading to its death by shading. The young plants of A. hindsi are more shade tolerant and less rigid than A cornigera of the same age.

As with A. hindsii and A. collinsii, the seedlings of A. cornigera are scattered throughout the habitat occupied by the parents. As stressed earlier (Janzen 1967b), they attain the height of 10 to 50 cm and die after 1 to 2 years if not occupied by a colon) of obligate acacia-ants. When in heavily shaded sites, the seedlings tend to produce few swollen thorns (Figure 71A), while in fully insolated sites thorn production is much greater (Figure 71B) Once occupied, a variety of different shrub life forms may develop. In dry areas, about as much wood goes into the central trunk as into branches (e.g., Figure 72A), and the shrub ends up being very bushy in appearance (Figures 73A, B). Only very rarely does A. cornigera become a large tree 10 to 15 m in height; however, such trees are normall) found in natural disturbance sites along rivers and

may at one time have made up a much larger proportion of the reproducing population than at present.

Over most of the distribution of A. cornigera, sexual branchlets and their products are rather uniform; however, wetness of the habitat does appear to influence this. In the Pacific foothills of Guatemala (site 50) the sexual branchlets may be 20 to 50 cm long (Figure 74A). In contrast to the situation at this wet site, most populations of A. cornigera produce sexual branchlets 1 to 10 cm long (Figure 74C). The inflorescence itself is not influenced by the amount of moisture at the site, except that at some of the driest sites, some of the shortest inflorescences were found (again suggesting that A. sphaerocephala is a dry-land offshoot of A. cornigera). The number of florets per inflorescence is poorly correlated with the length of the inflorescence (Figure 75) at any one site but over a variety of sites shows a weak correlation (Figure 76).

The indehiscent pods of A. cornigera are split open by birds (Figure 75B) and the seeds dispersed by birds that frequent second-growth vegetation (Janzen, 1967b). Over most of the range of A. cornigera, the pod walls are thick and hard to break between ones fingers. They tend to have sharp and stiff long points on the end (Figures 74B, C); however, in riparian habitats at site 26, the pod walls are very thin and even split of their own accord when drying. The plants on the adjacent dry hills have the usual thick-walled pods. This difference is genetic as shown by a lack of intermediates

and occasional plants bearing the “wrong” type of pods for the habitat where the plant is encountered. It is interesting that this site is only about 80 miles from that portion of the A. sphaerocephala population below the city of Veracruz that also has very thin pod walls. The number of seeds in A. cornigera pods is representative for dry-land, swollen-thorn acacias (Figure 77) but nearly all the seeds are killed by bruchid beetles. The very high predation on A. cornigera seeds by these beetles may be due to the high concentration of pod crops to be found in fields and roadsides; when the plants were widely spaced in natural disturbance sites, the bruchids might have a much more difficult time locating the pod crops.

The thorns of A. cornigera display every color found in swollen-thorn acacias, but there is little intertree or intratree variation at any one site. In general the thorns in very hot and dry lowlands are white, ivory, or pale gray. At high elevations they are often very dark brown or nearly black. Though the correlation is not perfect, it is tempting to interpret these differences as being adaptive in respect to the ant colony. In lowland areas, temperatures in fully insolated thorns can be high enough to drive out the ants, and light-colored thorns may reflect radiation and slightly lower the temperature inside the thorn. It is perhaps significant in this connection that A. collinsii also has very light-colored thorns in dry and hot areas and dark thorns in high and wet sites. The dark thorns of A. cornigera could aid in warming up the ant colony on cool days and thereby increase the degree of patrolling by ants. It is significant in this respect that A. sphaerocephala has very dark thorns at the one high (cool) and dry site where it occurs, in strong contrast to the light-colored thorns it bears in dry lowland areas. All of the wet-forest swollen-thorn

acacias have very dark brown thorns, and this may be important in warming the thorns by occasional direct insolation. Bicolored thorns (Figure 78C) are somewhat puzzling in this respect. They are most prominent in the small and insolated population of A. cornigera on the west coast of Mexico; here A. cornigera grows only in swamps, with A. collinsii on the extremely dry and hot adjacent hillsides.

The spectacular “bull’s horns” swollen-thorns of A. cornigera are extremely variable in shape, but in a consistent and often clinal manner. Many sites are characterized by a particular thorn type, and many of these thorn types resemble thorns found on other species of swollen-thorn acacia (though often not sympatrically). Type A thorns of A. cornigera (Figures 78, 79) are usually round or nearly so in cross section and form a shallow to steep “V” with the branch wearing them. When flattened so that they superficially resemble A. hindsii thorns (Figure 80D), they are still easily distinguished by having very thick and rough walls. Type B thorns (Figures 80, 81) are highly variable in form, but all are much larger in volume than type A thorns. There is no part of the range of A. cornigera where it is consistently occupied by multiple-queen species of obligate acacia-ants, so

selection for large type B thorns is omnipresent. Type B thorns of A. cornigera are the hardest to break into of any of the swollen-thorn acacias. Several are often twisted together, making it difficult to even pull one off the acacia.
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Janzen, Daniel H. 1974. "Swollen-Thorn Acacias of Central America." Smithsonian Contributions to Botany. 1-131. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.13
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Physical Description

provided by USDA PLANTS text
Perennial, Trees, Shrubs, Woody throughout, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems greater than 2 m tall, Trunk or stems armed with thorns, spines or prickles, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Extrafloral nectary glands on petiole, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Stipules spinose or bristles, Leaves compound, Leaves even pinnate, Leaves bipinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers actinomorphic or somewhat irregular, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals united, valvate, Petals white, Petals orange or yellow, Stamens numerous, more than 10, Stamens complet ely free, separate, Stamens long exserted, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds embedded in gummy or spongy pulp, Seed with elliptical line or depression, pleurogram, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.
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Acacia cornigera ( Asturian )

provided by wikipedia AST

Acacia cornigera, el cornezuelo, cuernu de toru o cuyarina, ye un parrotal de la familia de les fabacees.

Descripción

Esta especie puede algamar hasta 10 m d'altor. Tien escayos grandes, acovanaes escontra fuera (escayos dorsales axustares) que tán en pares na base de fueyes, que s'asemeyen a los cuernos d'un toru y son llixera o fuertemente cafés, delles vegaes marfil o marielles.

Les fueyes bipinnaes, con raquis principal de 12 a 14 cm de llargor, con 8 a 10 pares de fueyuques de 4 a 6 cm de llargu y peciolu acanaláu de 0,5 a 2 cm, cada fueyuca con 22 a 32 pares de pinnas de 3 a 7 mm de llargu y 7 a 17 mm ente par de pinnas. Inflorescencia n'espiga con flores sésiles de coroles marielles de 1,1 a 1,5 mm de llargu, llixeramente más llargues que la mota. Llegume color caoba, usualmente erecta, pola, 5 a 9 cm de llargor por 1,3 a 1,8 cm d'anchor, con ápiz puntudo. Semilla color pardu foscu con arilo blancusco.

Distribución

Ye nativu del sur de Méxicu y Centroamérica. Distribúise per Belice, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hondures, Méxicu, Nicaragua y Estaos Xuníos. Foi introducíu n'India y Paquistán.

Acacia cornigera 1.jpg
Acacia cornigera 2.jpg

Mirmecofilia

Esta acacia ye conocida pola so rellación simbiótica coles formigues del xéneru Pseudomyrmex (P. ferruginea, P. belti, P. nigrosincta). Les formigues actúen como mecanismu de defensa pal árbol, protexéndolo contra inseutos y otros animales dañosos o contra plantes parásites. Les formigues habiten nos escayos buecos de la planta y aliméntense d'unos pequeños glóbulos ricos en glucóxenu (cuerpos de Belt) que son secretaos pol ápiz de los foliolos. El naturalista Francisco Hernández en 1651 foi'l primeru n'escribir sobre esta simbiosis, al referise a l'acacia llamada polos indíxenes huitzmaxalli.

Tosicidá

Les especies del xéneru Acacia pueden contener derivaos de la dimetiltriptamina y glucósidos cianogénicos nes fueyes, les granes y la corteza, que la so ingestión puede suponer un riesgu pa la salú.[1]

Taxonomía

Acacia cornigera describióse por (L.) Willd. y espublizóse en Species Plantarum. Editio quarta 4(2): 1080. 1806.[2]

Etimoloxía

Acacia: nome xenéricu deriváu del griegu ακακία (akakia), que foi dau pol botánicu Griegu Pedanius Dioscorides (A.C. 40-90) pal árbol melecinal A. nilotica nel so llibru De Materia Medica.[3] El nome deriva de la pallabra griega, ακις (akis, escayos).[4]

cornigera: epítetu llatín que significa "con cuernu" describiendo los escayos de la planta.[5]

Sinonimia
  • Acacia campecheana Schenck
  • Acacia cornigera (L.)Willd. var. americana DC.
  • Acacia cubensis Schenck
  • Acacia furcella Saff.
  • Acacia hernandezii Saff.
  • Acacia interjecta Schenck
  • Acacia rossiana Schenck
  • Acacia spadicigera Schldl. & Cham.
  • Acacia turgida Saff.
  • Mimosa cornigera L.
  • Tauroceras cornigerum (L.)Britton & Rose
  • Tauroceras spadicigerum (Schldl. & Cham.)Britton & Rose[6][7]

Ver tamién

Referencies

  1. ↑ European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). «Compendium of botanicals reported to contain naturally occuring substances of possible concern for human health when used in food and food supplements». EFSA Journal 10 (5). doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2663. http://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/scientific_output/files/main_documents/2663.pdf.
  2. ↑ «Acacia cornigera». Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Consultáu'l 14 d'ochobre de 2012.
  3. ↑ «Acacia nilotica (acacia)». Plants & Fungi. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archiváu dende l'orixinal, el 12 de xineru 2010. Consultáu'l 28 de xineru de 2010.
  4. ↑ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names 1 A-C. CRC Press, 6. ISBN 978-0-8493-2675-2.
  5. ↑ n'Epítetos botánicos
  6. ↑ Acacia cornigera (ILDIS LegumeWeb)
  7. ↑ Acacia cornigera en PlantList

Bibliografía

  • Del Val, Ek y Rodolfo Dirzo Mirmecofilia: les plantes con exércitu propiu
  • Janzen DH (1967) "Interaction of the bulls-hornacacia (Acacia cornigera L.) with an ant in-habitant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea F. Smith) in eastern Méxicu". University of Kansas Science Bulletin' 47:315–558.
  • Zamora, N. (1991) "Tratamientu de la familia Mimosaceae (Fabales) de Costa Rica". Brenesia 36: 63-149.

Enllaces esternos

Cymbidium Clarisse Austin 'Best Pink' Flowers 2000px.JPG Esta páxina forma parte del wikiproyeutu Botánica, un esfuerciu collaborativu col fin d'ameyorar y organizar tolos conteníos rellacionaos con esti tema. Visita la páxina d'alderique del proyeutu pa collaborar y facer entrugues o suxerencies.
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Acacia cornigera: Brief Summary ( Asturian )

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Acacia cornigera, el cornezuelo, cuernu de toru o cuyarina, ye un parrotal de la familia de les fabacees.

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Acacia cornigera ( Azerbaijani )

provided by wikipedia AZ

Acacia cornigera (lat. Acacia cornigera) - paxlakimilər fəsiləsinin akasiya cinsinə aid bitki növü.

Sinonimləri

  • Acacia campecheana Schenck
  • Acacia cornigera var. americana DC.
  • Acacia cubensis Schenck
  • Acacia furcella Saff.
  • Acacia hernandezii Saff.
  • Acacia interjecta Schenck
  • Acacia rossiana Schenck
  • Acacia spadicigera Schldl. & Cham.
  • Acacia turgida Saff.
  • Mimosa cornigera L.
  • Tauroceras cornigerum (L.)Britton & Rose
  • Tauroceras spadicigerum (Schldl. & Cham.)Britton & Rose[1]

Mənbə

  1. ↑ Acacia cornigera}} (ILDIS LegumeWeb)
Bu şablona bax Akasiya cinsinə aid növlər A. cornigera • A. covenyi • A. cowleana • A. craspedocarpa • A. crassicarpa • A. cultriformis • A. cuspidifolia • A. cuthbertsonii • A. cyclops • A. cyperophylla • A. daemon • A. deanei • A. decora • A. decurrens • A. delibrata • A. densispina • A. denticulosa • A. didyma • A. dolichostachya • A. drepanolobium • A. drummondii • A. elata • A. enterocarpa • A. erioloba • A. estrophiolata • A. etilis • A. euthycarpa • A. extensa • A. falcata • A. farinosa • A. ferruginea • A. filiciana • A. fimbriata • A. flagellaris • A. floribunda • A. furcatispina • A. gaumeri • A. genistifolia • A. georginae • A. glaucoptera • A. grasbyi • A. greggii • A. gunnii • A. harpophylla • A. hemiteles • A. heterophylla • A. holosericea • A. horrida • A. howittii • A. imbricata • A. flexifolia • A. implexa • A. inaequilatera • A. jacquemontii • A. jurema • A. karroo • A. kempeana • A. kingiana • A. koa • A. koaia • A. laeta • A. lanigera • A. leprosa • A. leprosa • A. ligulata • A. lineata • A. lingulata • A. longifolia • A. maidenii • A. maitlandii • A. mangium • A. manubensis • A. mathuataensis • A. mearnsii • A. meiantha • A. melanoxylon • A. mellifera • A. mitchellii • A. moggii • A. moirii • A. montana • A. montis-usti • A. murrayana • A. myrtifolia • A. neriifolia • A. nigricans • A. nilotica • A. obtusifolia • A. ochracea • A. oerfota • A. origena • A. oxycedrus • A. papyrocarpa • A. paradoxa • A. parramattensis • A. pendula • A. penninervis • A. pennivenia • A. permixta • A. pervillei • A. phlebophylla • A. plicata • A. plumosa • A. podalyriifolia • A. polyacantha • A. prasinata • A. pravissima • A. prominens • A. pruinocarpa • A. pseudonigrescens • A. pulchella • A. purpurea • A. pycnantha • A. pyrifolia • A. quadrimarginea • A. restiacea • A. retinodes • A. rigens • A. rigidula Inula britannica.jpeg İkiləpəlilər ilə əlaqədar bu məqalə qaralama halındadır. Məqaləni redaktə edərək Vikipediyanı zənginləşdirin.
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Acacia cornigera: Brief Summary ( Azerbaijani )

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Acacia cornigera (lat. Acacia cornigera) - paxlakimilər fəsiləsinin akasiya cinsinə aid bitki növü.

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Vachellia cornigera

provided by wikipedia EN

Vachellia cornigera, commonly known as bullhorn acacia (family Fabaceae), is a swollen-thorn tree native to Mexico and Central America. The common name of "bullhorn" refers to the enlarged, hollowed-out, swollen thorns (technically called stipular spines) that occur in pairs at the base of leaves, and resemble the horns of a steer. In Yucatán (one region where the bullhorn acacia thrives) it is called "subín", in Panamá the locals call them "cachito" (little horn). The trees are commonly found in wet lowlands[2]

Morphology

Bullhorn acacias are often found as 10 meter (33 ft.) trees. Their bark is gray to brown in color and has small furrows. The new growth of the branches is a reddish brown color and is covered in a pubescence, or a covering of small hairs. The leaves are alternate with a pair of stipular spines where the leaf connects to the branch. The spines can vary widely in color from brown, red, and yellow.[3] The spines are home to ants that protect the plant from herbivory. Beltian bodies can be found at the tips of the leaves. They are full of fats and sugars that feed the ants.[2] The tree also produces carbohydrate-rich nectar from glands on its leaf stalk. This type of relationship is called myrmecophily.

Symbiotic relationship

Acacia ants

Bullhorn acacia is best known for its symbiotic relationship with Pseudomyrmex ferruginea, an ant that lives in its hollowed-out thorns. Unlike other acacias, bullhorn acacias are deficient in the bitter alkaloids usually located in the leaves that defend against ravaging insects and animals. Bullhorn acacia ants fulfill that role.

The ants act as a defense mechanism for the tree, protecting it against harmful insects, animals or humans that may come into contact with it. The ants live in the thorns. In return, the tree supplies the ants with Beltian bodies, or protein-lipid nodules, and nectar. These Beltian bodies have no known function other than to provide food for the ants. The aggressive ants release an alarm pheromone and rush out of their thorn "barracks" in great numbers.

According to Daniel Janzen, livestock can apparently smell the pheromone and avoid these acacias day and night.[4] Getting stung in the mouth and tongue is an effective deterrent to browsing on the tender foliage. In addition to protecting V. conigera from leaf-cutting ants and other unwanted herbivores, the ants also clear away invasive seedlings around the base of the tree that might overgrow it and block out vital sunlight.

Physiology

The physiology of bullhorn acacia (vachellia cornigera) and P. ferrugineus ant's chemical signalling uses the typical herbivore response signaling pathways expressed in plants. However, the bullhorn acacia extends the function of this signaling to recruit ants to help protect against herbivores. This results in the acacia having an obligate relationship with the P. ferrugineus ants. In this relationship, the plants provide ants with shelter, in the form of swollen stipular spines, food (in the form of protein-lipid-rich beltian bodies) and sugar-secreting extrafloral nectaries. The beltian bodies, small detachable tips on the pinnules of the bullhorn acacia, have evolved into multicellular structures to provide food for protective ant colonies. The P. ferrugineus ants cut small holes in the thorns of the acacia where they lay eggs and care for larvae. These thorns are waterproof and hold in moisture which protects the ants.

The communication between the bullhorn acacia and the ants is mediated by volatiles which arise from damaged vegetation. The major volatile released from crushed leaves was identified via gas chromatography to be trans-2-hexenal. In an experiment by William F. Wood and Brenda J. Wood, solutions of trans-2-hexenal and dichloromethane were placed on bull horn acacia to see if the ants would respond. The results of this were that a statistically significant number of ants displayed more aggravated behavior and swarmed the area with trans-2-hexenal than dichloromethane, proving trans-2-hexenal was the main volatile used by the bullhorn acacia to signal its distress to the ants.[5] Thus, the initial signal of the damage response pathway is the physical damage of the leaf. This leads to a flux in Ca2+ levels in the leaf cells, generating a variation potential. The result of the variation potential is the damaged leaves releasing the volatile trans-2-hexena, which the ants sense and respond to by swarming the damaged area to drive off herbivores.

However, the volatile release in response to damage has a secondary function. A study by Hernández-Zepeda et al. revealed that the release of volatiles corresponded with the activation of the jasmonic acid pathway in plants: a common pathway in plants that activates in response to damage. Furthermore, the application of jasmonic acid to leaves resulted in an increase in extrafloral nectar production by CWIN (an invertase regulator of nectar secretion found in the cell wall). Thus, it can be understood that when damaged, the Bullhorn acacia creates a signal to the ants to defend it while also increasing the production of the ants' food source.[6]

The extrafloral nectaries, which are nectar secreting plant glands, are located on the acacia's petioles and are the location of the food source for the ants. The secreted nectar plays an important role as plant indirect defense through the attraction of defending ants. As long as the plants are inhabited by mutualistic ants, the extrafloral nectar will get secreted with a sharp diurnal peak (between 8-10am). The nectary is the site of nectar synthesis, and the components that get synthesized include sugar, amino acids, and nectarines. The metabolic machinery for the extrafloral nectar production is synthesized and active during secretion then degraded after. Invertase is an enzyme that was found by Orona-Tamayo et al. to play an important role in nectar secretion, as it collects in the nectaries right before secretion, then declines quickly after the secretion.[7]

The nectar secretion from nectaries and food bodies on leaves and shelter (hollow stipular spines at the base of a leaf) is known as swollen plant syndrome. This syndrome is vital to the acacia plant's survival because it facilitates the animal-plant mutualism with the P. ferrugineus ants. However, this syndrome does not develop until several weeks after germination.

It has been reported that swollen thorn syndrome (production of specialized traits in the form of hollow stipular spines, beltian bodies, and extrafloral nectaries) was absent in the early development of the bullhorn acacia. Leichty and Poethig linked the expression of swollen thorn syndrome to a change in the expression of genes in the miR156/miR157 and their corresponding increase in their target SPL transcription factors. Specifically, they found that gradual decline in miRNA156/157 was correlated with gradual increase in length of extrafloral nectaries and an increase in the number of beltian bodies. Furthermore, stipule swelling occurred at the nodes with the lowest levels of these miRNAs. Their results highlight that these traits are controlled by the miR156/miRNA157-SPL pathway, suggesting that this syndrome is an age-dependent (temporally regulated) consequence of genetic regulation and not of passive constraints on development.[8]

In a study by Heil et al. in 2014,[9] the research team found that acacia hosts manipulate their ant inhabitants (pseudomyrmex) by inhibiting their sucrose invertase. This enzyme breaks down sucrose in the ants. The invertase in the ants is inhibited by an extra floral nectar (EFN) protein chitinase that is in the nectar provided for the ants by the acacia. By binding to the sucrose invertase enzymes in the ants, the chitinase prevents the ants from breaking down sucrose containing sugars. The acacia tree EFN does not contain sucrose so the ants can digest the EFN provided by the acacia but no other sucrose containing nectars. Unknown to the ants, this very source (the EFN) contains the inhibiting chitinase. This manipulation of the ants physiology by acacia ensures the continuation of defense behavior of the ants.

The symbiotic relationship between the bullhorn acacia and P. ferrugineus ants is of a mutualistic nature for both species. This relationship has many physiological factors in both the acacia and ants. The behaviors that arise from these factors are currently known to include: Acacia defense by ants and nectar secretion by acacia resulting in partner manipulation of the ants by the acacia.

Uses

Decorative uses

The thorns of V. cornigera, are often strung into unusual necklaces and belts. In El Salvador the horn-shaped thorns provide the legs for small ballerina seed dolls which are worn as decorative pins.

Traditional medicine

The thorns of V. cornigera are also used in traditional Maya acupuncture.[10]

References

  1. ^ Acacia cornigera (ILDIS LegumeWeb)
  2. ^ a b Morse, Clinton. "Vachellia cornigera {Fabaceae} Bull-thorn Acacia". florawww.eeb.uconn.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  3. ^ "Factsheet - cornigera". www.anbg.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  4. ^ Daniel Janzen, Costa Rican Natural History, 1983
  5. ^ Martins, Dino J. (2010-11-10). "Not all ants are equal: obligate acacia ants provide different levels of protection against mega-herbivores". African Journal of Ecology. 48 (4): 1115–1122. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2010.01226.x. ISSN 0141-6707.
  6. ^ Hernández-Zepeda, Omar F.; Razo-Belman, Rosario; Heil, Martin (2018). "Reduced Responsiveness to Volatile Signals Creates a Modular Reward Provisioning in an Obligate Food-for-Protection Mutualism". Frontiers in Plant Science. 9: 1076. doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.01076. ISSN 1664-462X. PMC 6066664. PMID 30087690.
  7. ^ Orona-Tamayo, Domancar; Wielsch, Natalie; Escalante-Pérez, María; Svatos, Ales; Molina-Torres, Jorge; Muck, Alexander; Ramirez-Chávez, Enrique; Ádame-Alvarez, Rosa-María; Heil, Martin (2013). "Short-term proteomic dynamics reveal metabolic factory for active extrafloral nectar secretion by Acacia cornigera ant-plants". The Plant Journal. 73 (4): 546–554. doi:10.1111/tpj.12052. ISSN 1365-313X. PMID 23075038.
  8. ^ Leichty, A. R., & Poethig, R. S. (2019). Development and evolution of age-dependent defenses in ant-acacias. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(31), 15596–15601. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1900644116
  9. ^ Heil, Martin; Barajas-Barron, Alejandro; Orona-Tamayo, Domancar; Wielsch, Natalie; Svatos, Ales (2014). "Partner manipulation stabilises a horizontally transmitted mutualism". Ecology Letters. 17 (2): 185–192. doi:10.1111/ele.12215. ISSN 1461-0248. PMID 24188323.
  10. ^ Saqui, Aurora Garcia (2016). Ix Hmen U Tzaco Ah Maya: Maya Herbal Medicine. Caye Caulker, Belize: Produccicones de la Hamaca. p. 42. ISBN 978-9768142863.

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wikipedia EN

Vachellia cornigera: Brief Summary

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Vachellia cornigera, commonly known as bullhorn acacia (family Fabaceae), is a swollen-thorn tree native to Mexico and Central America. The common name of "bullhorn" refers to the enlarged, hollowed-out, swollen thorns (technically called stipular spines) that occur in pairs at the base of leaves, and resemble the horns of a steer. In Yucatán (one region where the bullhorn acacia thrives) it is called "subín", in Panamá the locals call them "cachito" (little horn). The trees are commonly found in wet lowlands

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Acacia cornigera ( Spanish; Castilian )

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Acacia cornigera, el cuernecillo,[1]​ árbol del cuerno,[1]​ cornezuelo, cuerno de toro o cucharilla, es un arbusto de la familia de las fabáceas.

Descripción

Esta especie puede alcanzar hasta 10 m de altura. Tiene espinas grandes, ahuecadas hacia afuera (espinas dorsales estipulares) que están en pares en la base de hojas, que se asemejan a los cuernos de un toro y son ligera o fuertemente cafés, algunas veces marfil o amarillas.

Las hojas bipinnadas, con raquis principal de 12 a 14 cm de longitud, con ocho a diez pares de hojuelas de 4 a 6 cm de largo y pecíolo acanalado de 0,5 a 2 cm, cada hojuela con veintidós a treinta y dos pares de pinnas de 3 a 7 mm de largo y 7 a 17 mm entre par de pinnas. Inflorescencia en espiga con flores sésiles de corolas amarillas de 1,1 a 1,5 mm de largo, ligeramente más largas que el cáliz. Legumbre color caoba, usualmente erecta, rolliza, 5 a 9 cm de longitud por 1,3 a 1,8 cm de anchura, con ápice puntudo. Semillas color pardo obscuro con arilo blancusco.

Distribución

Es nativo del sur de México y Centroamérica. Se distribuye por Belice, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá y Estados Unidos. Ha sido introducido en India y Pakistán.

Acacia cornigera 1.jpg
Acacia cornigera 2.jpg

Mirmecofilia

Esta acacia es conocida por su relación simbiótica con las hormigas del género Pseudomyrmex (P. ferruginea, P. belti, P. nigrosincta). Las hormigas actúan como mecanismo de defensa para el árbol, protegiéndolo contra insectos y otros animales dañosos o contra plantas parásitas. Las hormigas habitan en las espinas huecas de la planta y se alimentan de unos pequeños glóbulos ricos en glucógeno (cuerpos de Belt) que son secretados por el ápice de los foliolos. El naturalista Francisco Hernández en 1651 fue el primero en escribir sobre esta simbiosis, al referirse a la acacia llamada por los indígenas huitzmaxalli.

A finales de 2013 se publicó un artículo en la revista National Geographic que rebatía la conocida relación simbiótica. Se argumentó que la acacia hacía esclavas a las hormigas que probaban su azúcar, haciéndolas adictas o dependientes de dicho azúcar segregado por el arbusto; siendo por tanto, una relación más de servidumbre que de simbiosis.[2]​

Toxicidad

Las especies del género Acacia pueden contener derivados de la dimetiltriptamina y glucósidos cianogénicos en las hojas, las semillas y la corteza, cuya ingestión puede suponer un riesgo para la salud.[3]​

Taxonomía

Acacia cornigera fue descrita por (L.) Willd. y publicado en Species Plantarum. Editio quarta 4(2): 1080. 1806.[4]​

Etimología

Ver: Acacia: Etimología

cornigera: epíteto latíno que significa "con cuerno" describiendo las espinas de la planta.[5]​

Sinonimia
  • Acacia campecheana Schenck
  • Acacia cornigera (L.) Willd. var. americana DC.
  • Acacia cubensis Schenck
  • Acacia furcella Saff.
  • Acacia hernandezii Saff.
  • Acacia interjecta Schenck
  • Acacia rossiana Schenck
  • Acacia spadicigera Schldl. & Cham.
  • Acacia turgida Saff.
  • Mimosa cornigera L.
  • Tauroceras cornigerum (L.) Britton & Rose
  • Tauroceras spadicigerum (Schldl. & Cham.) Britton & Rose[6]​[7]​

Referencias

  1. ↑ a b Colmeiro, Miguel: «Diccionario de los diversos nombres vulgares de muchas plantas usuales ó notables del antiguo y nuevo mundo», Madrid, 1871.
  2. ↑ Trees Trap Ants Into Sweet Servitude
  3. ↑ European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2012). «Compendium of botanicals reported to contain naturally occuring substances of possible concern for human health when used in food and food supplements». EFSA Journal 10 (5): 2663. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2663.
  4. ↑ «Acacia cornigera». Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. Consultado el 14 de octubre de 2012.
  5. ↑ en Epítetos botánicos
  6. ↑ Acacia cornigera (ILDIS LegumeWeb)
  7. ↑ Acacia cornigera en PlantList

Bibliografía

  • Del Val, Ek y Rodolfo Dirzo Mirmecofilia: las plantas con ejército propio
  • Janzen DH (1967) "Interaction of the bulls-hornacacia (Acacia cornigera L.) with an ant in-habitant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea F. Smith) in eastern México". University of Kansas Science Bulletin' 47:315–558.
  • Zamora, N. (1991) "Tratamiento de la familia Mimosaceae (Fabales) de Costa Rica". Brenesia 36: 63-149.
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Acacia cornigera: Brief Summary ( Spanish; Castilian )

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Acacia cornigera, el cuernecillo,​ árbol del cuerno,​ cornezuelo, cuerno de toro o cucharilla, es un arbusto de la familia de las fabáceas.

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Acacia cornigera ( French )

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Vachellia cornigera est une espèce d’arbres tropicaux et subtropicaux de la famille des Fabacées. Communément appelé Acacia corne de bœuf, c'est une espèce de Vachellia aux épines gonflées originaire du Mexique et de l'Amérique centrale. Le nom commun corne de bœuf fait référence à ses épines recourbées et évidées (techniquement appelées épines stipulaires) qui apparaissent par deux en bas de la feuille et qui ressemblent aux cornes de cet animal. Au Yucatán (l'une des régions où cet acacia prolifère), on le nomme « subín ». Au Panama, les indigènes le nomment « cachito » (petite corne). Cet arbre peut atteindre jusqu'à 10 mètres de haut.

Répartition

src=
Carte de répartition de Vachellia cornigera.

Mutualisme

L'acacia cornigera est surtout connu pour sa relation symbiotique (appelée myrmécophilie) avec une espèce de fourmi Pseudomyrmex ferruginea (en) qui vit dans ses épines creuses. Contrairement aux autres acacias, cet arbre manque d'alcaloïdes amers, des molécules organiques situées généralement dans les feuilles qui servent à se défendre contre les insectes et les animaux. Les fourmis remplissent donc ce rôle protecteur.

Les fourmis agissent comme un organisme de défense pour l'arbre en le protégeant des insectes nuisibles, des animaux ou des humains qui pourraient entrer en contact avec lui. Les fourmis vivent dans les épines vides et l'arbre fournit aux fourmis en retour :

Les corps beltiens n'ont aucune autre fonction connue que de sécréter de la nourriture pour les fourmis symbiotiques. Ces fourmis agressives émettent une phéromone d'alarme et sortent de leur épine-caserne en très grand nombre. Il semble toutefois que le nectar contienne de la chitinase[3], qui inhibe la production chez la fourmi d'invertase nécessaire à la séparation du saccharose en glucose et fructose. Les fourmis sont ainsi obligée de se nourrir chez l'acacia, créant une véritable relation de dépendance[4],[5].

D'après Daniel Janzen, un biologiste américain, le bétail peut apparemment sentir cette phéromone et évite cet acacia de jour comme de nuit. Le fait de se faire piquer la bouche et la langue est un moyen de dissuasion efficace contre le grignotage de ses feuilles. En plus de protéger l'arbre contre les fourmis coupe-feuille et autres herbivores indésirables, les fourmis enlèvent les plantes invasives qui poussent autour de la base de l'arbre et qui pourraient, en grandissant, priver l'arbre de lumière.

Utilisation

Usage décoratif

Les cornes de cet arbre sont parfois enfilées dans des colliers ou des ceintures peu communs. Au Salvador, les épines en forme de corne servent à construire les jambes de petites poupées qui servent comme des épingles décoratives.

Usage médicinal

L'écorce et les racines de cet arbre sont utilisés en phytothérapie pour ralentir l'arrivée du venin dans le sang lors des piqûres de serpents. L'acné et autres problèmes de peau peuvent être soignés grâce à la décoction des cornes. Il est aussi parfois utilisé dans le traitement de l'impuissance.

Culture populaire

L'acacia cornigera a été particulièrement révélé au public par Bernard Werber dans L'Encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu (p. 48) et La nouvelle encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu (p. 342). Il est aussi évoqué à plusieurs reprises dans Le Jour des fourmis et La Révolution des fourmis.

Notes et références

  1. ↑ a et b The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/, consulté le 8 mars 2020
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i et j BioLib, consulté le 8 mars 2020
  3. ↑ (en) Martin Heil, Alejandro Barajas-Barron, Domancar Orona-Tamayo et Natalie Wielsch, « Partner manipulation stabilises a horizontally transmitted mutualism », Ecology Letters, vol. 17, no 2,‎ février 2014, p. 185–192 (DOI , lire en ligne, consulté le 12 mai 2020)
  4. ↑ (en) Ed Yong, « Trees Trap Ants Into Sweet Servitude », sur National Geographic News, 6 novembre 2013 (consulté le 12 mai 2020)
  5. ↑ Pierre Barthélémy, « Comment un arbre mène des fourmis à l'esclavage », Passeur de science,‎ 20 novembre 2013 (lire en ligne, consulté le 12 mai 2020)

Références taxinomiques

Vachellia cornigera

Acacia cornigera

Voir aussi

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Acacia cornigera: Brief Summary ( French )

provided by wikipedia FR

Vachellia cornigera est une espèce d’arbres tropicaux et subtropicaux de la famille des Fabacées. Communément appelé Acacia corne de bœuf, c'est une espèce de Vachellia aux épines gonflées originaire du Mexique et de l'Amérique centrale. Le nom commun corne de bœuf fait référence à ses épines recourbées et évidées (techniquement appelées épines stipulaires) qui apparaissent par deux en bas de la feuille et qui ressemblent aux cornes de cet animal. Au Yucatán (l'une des régions où cet acacia prolifère), on le nomme « subín ». Au Panama, les indigènes le nomment « cachito » (petite corne). Cet arbre peut atteindre jusqu'à 10 mètres de haut.

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Acacia cornigera ( Italian )

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Acacia cornigera (L.) Willd., 1806 è una pianta appartenente alla famiglia delle Mimosaceae (o Fabaceae secondo la classificazione APG[1]), originaria di Messico e Centroamerica.[2]

Descrizione

È un arbusto o piccolo albero con fusto alto sino a 10 m.
I rami possiedono grandi stipole spinose cave, disposte in paia alla base delle foglie, lunghe sino a 5 cm, e larghe circa 1 cm alla base. Ad esse si deve il nome comune di "cornezuelo" o "cuerno de toro" con cui questa specie è indicata tra i popoli dell'America centrale.
Le foglie sono bipinnate, lunghe 7.5–20 cm, con 8-10 paia di pinne composte da 15-25 paia di foglioline lunghe 6–13 mm, all'apice delle quali si trovano dei corpuscoli ghiandolari ovoidali ricchi di protidi e grassi, detti corpi del Belt.
I fiori, gialli, sono riuniti in infiorescenze a spiga.
Il frutto è un legume color mogano, lungo da 5 a 9 cm per 1,3 a 1,8 cm de larghezza, con apice appuntito.
I semi sono di colore marrone scuro con arillo biancastro.

Distribuzione e habitat

La specie è nativa del Messico e del Centroamerica (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba, Guadalupa e Martinica).[2]
È stata introdotta, e si è naturalizzata, in India, in Pakistan e in Florida (USA).

Ecologia

A. cornigera è una pianta mirmecofila che ha un rapporto mutualistico con formiche della specie Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus (Pseudomyrmecinae).[3]
La pianta ospita le colonie di formiche all'interno di domazie presenti nelle stipole spinose cave e offre loro nutrimento, rappresentato dai corpuscoli di Belt presenti sull'apice delle foglioline. Le formiche a loro volta proteggono la pianta dagli attacchi degli insetti fitofagi ed impediscono l'attecchimento delle piante epifite.

Note

  1. ^ The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II , in Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 2003; 141: 399–436.
  2. ^ a b Acacia cornigera, in ILDIS World Database of Legumes.
  3. ^ Janzen DH., Interaction of the bull's-horn acacia (Acacia cornigera L. ) with an ant inhabitant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea F. Smith) in Eastern Mexico, in Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 1967; 47: 315-558.

Bibliografia

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Acacia cornigera: Brief Summary ( Italian )

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Acacia cornigera (L.) Willd., 1806 è una pianta appartenente alla famiglia delle Mimosaceae (o Fabaceae secondo la classificazione APG), originaria di Messico e Centroamerica.

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Acacia cornigera ( Portuguese )

provided by wikipedia PT

Vachellia cornigera é uma espécie de leguminosa do gênero Acacia, pertencente à família Fabaceae.[2]

Referências

  1. ↑ Acacia cornigera (ILDIS LegumeWeb)
  2. ↑ Morse, Clinton. «Vachellia cornigera {Fabaceae} Bull-thorn Acacia». florawww.eeb.uconn.edu. Consultado em 24 de abril de 2020

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Acacia cornigera: Brief Summary ( Portuguese )

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Vachellia cornigera é uma espécie de leguminosa do gênero Acacia, pertencente à família Fabaceae.

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