Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Vachellia insulae-iacobi
Algarrobo, Acacia
A tree endemic to the Galapagos Islands that grows up to 10 meters tall. It has bipinnate leaves with 1 to 3 pairs of pinnae and relatively large, oblong, glabrous leaflets. Its stipular spines are straight, symmetrical, and measure between 7 and 30 mm long, usually less than 1.5 mm wide near the base. The flowers are yellow to orange, small, and clustered in globular heads, usually solitary on short shoots. The fruit is a straight to slightly curved, slightly inflated legume, 90 to 170 mm long, smooth and glabrous, with no visible constrictions between the seeds.
This species occurs exclusively in arid areas of the Galapagos on volcanic soils and lava.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Fabales
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Vachellia
Species
insulae-iacobi
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Acacia insulae-iacobi Riley (POWO, 2022)
Origin: Endemic
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: The native range of this species is Galápagos, W. Ecuador (POWO, 2023).
- Atkinson, R. Guézou, A. & Jaramillo, P. (2009) Siémbrame en tu jardín - Plantas nativas para jardines en Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador, 151 pp.
- Ebinger, J. Seigler, D. & Clarke, H. (2000) Taxonomic revision of South American species of the genus Acacia subgenus Acacia (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae) Systematic Botany, 25(4):588-617.
- Eliasson, U. (1965) Studies in Galápagos Plants. I. Leguminosae. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift 59: 345-367.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
- Schönitzer, K. (1975) Galápagos Plants. Privately Published, Quito: 1-43.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Vachellia insulae-iacobi", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=20281. Accessed 1 November 2026.