Mariosousa

Mariosousa
Mariosousa willardiana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Mariosousa
Seigler & Ebinger
Type species
Mariosousa coulteri
(Bentham) Seigler & Ebinger
Species

13; see text

The range of the genus Mariosousa
Synonyms
  • the Acacia coulteri group

Mariosousa is a genus of 13 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Members of this genus were formerly considered to belong to the genus Acacia.

Restricted in range to Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States, members of the genus are trees or shrubs bearing alternate, bipinnately compound leaves—each with a swelling at the base of the petiole—and white- to cream- or yellow-colored flowers. The flowers are typically borne in elongated, bottle brush–like spikes. The fruits that later replace these flowers are markedly flattened pods.