Senegalia berlandieri

Senegalia berlandieri (Berlandier Acacia, Guajillo Acacia, guajillo, huajillo, huajilla) is a shrub native to the Southwestern United States and northeast Mexico that belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae (wattles) of Fabaceae (legumes). It grows 1 to 5 metres (3.3 to 16.4 ft) tall, with blossoms that are spherical and white, occurring from February through April.[1] The berlandieri epithet comes from the name of Jean-Louis Berlandier,[2] a French naturalist who studied wildlife native to Texas and Mexico. S. berlandieri contains a wide variety of alkaloids and has been known to cause toxic reactions in domestic animals such as goats.[3][4]

This article is about the shrub. For the chili pepper, see Guajillo chili.

Senegalia berlandieri

Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Genus:
Senegalia
Species:
S. berlandieri
Binomial name
Senegalia berlandieri
(Benth.) Britton & Rose
Range of Senegalia berlandieri
Synonyms

Acacia berlandieri Benth.

Uses

S. berlandieri is toxic to livestock and thus should not be used as forage or fodder.[5]

Alkaloids

S. berlandieri contains a number of diverse alkaloids, the most plentiful of which are N-methylphenethylamine, tyramine, and phenethylamine.[3] The total alkaloid content in dried leaves has been reported to be in the range 0.28-0.66%.[6] In a recent study, researchers identified thirty-one alkaloids in samples of plant foliage, including trace amounts of four amphetamines previously known only from laboratory synthesis: amphetamine, methamphetamine, para-hydroxyamphetamine and para-methoxyamphetamine. Other trace alkaloids include nicotine, and mescaline (found in many cacti but infrequently in other plants).[3] The same group of researchers later reported finding most of the same alkaloids in A. rigidula, a related species also native to the Southwestern U.S.[7] There are no reports in the literature of these findings having been repeated, however, leading to the suggestion that they resulted from cross-contamination or were possibly artifacts of the analytical technique.[8]

  • Senegalia berlandieri foliage and flowers
  • Senegalia berlandieri tree
  • Senegalia berlandieri bark
  • Senegalia berlandieri flowers and seed pods
  • Senegalia berlandieri seeds

References
  1. University of Texas Native Plant Information Network
  2. Holloway, Joel Ellis (2005). A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas & the Southern Great Plains. Texas Christian University Press. ISBN 978-3-540-63293-1.
  3. B.A. Clement, C. M. Goff and T. D. A. Forbes (1997). "Toxic amines and alkaloids from Acacia berlandieri." Phytochemistry 46 249-254.
  4. I. J. Pemberton, G. R. Smith, T. D. Forbes, and C. M. Hensarling (1993). "Technical note: an improved method for extraction and quantification of toxic phenethylamines from Acacia berlandieri." J. Anim. Sci. 71 467-70. http://www.journalofanimalscience.org/content/71/2/467.full.pdf
  5. "Guajillo". Texas Toxic Plant Database. Texas A&M University.
  6. Hegnauer, Robert mass (1994). Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 500. ISBN 978-3-7643-2979-2.
  7. B. A. Clement, C. M. Goff, and T.D. A. Forbes (1998). "Toxic amines and alkaloids from Acacia rigidula." Phytochemistry 49 1377-1380.
  8. "Acacias and Natural Amphetamine". Ask Dr. Shulgin Online. Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics. 2001-09-26. Archived from the original on 2002-12-27.
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