Shoestring Acacia

Acacia stenophylla

Shoestring acacia is a strikingly unique tree widely used in the desert Southwest, not only for its beautiful form and weeping habit, but also because it thrives in extreme heat with very little water once established.

As with the majority of Southwestern species, this tree will not take kindly to poorly drained soils, so if you have heavy clay, you might want to choose another species.

Shoestring acacia grows 20 to 40 feet tall and will have a canopy about 15 feet wide. From a distance, it resembles a willow tree, with very long, shoestring-like leaves. I could go off on an excited botanical tangent here, about how the leaves” are actually modified structures called phyllodes