Coulter’s Acacia
Mariosousa coulteri

GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED

SUN full to part sun, can even take reflected heat
WATER moderate to low
SOIL not picky, but well-drained
HARDINESS This plant is seldom seen in Arizona but a few specimens have been planted for several decades and have not been damaged by frost, and have gone down to the low 20s °F.
BASIN high zone
CONTAINER does moderately well in containers but will not attain full size
NUTRITION low
MAINTENANCE very little

ECOLOGY
Larval host for marine blue butterlfy (Leptotes marina), various owlet moths (family Noctuidae), and geometer moths (family Geometridae). Flowers attract butterflies and lots of other nectar feeders.

ETHNOBOTANY
Unknown.

NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
Open dry forest, dense thorn scrub thickets, and dry rocky slopes below 0ver 6000’ elevation in the foothills and mountains of northeastern Mexico in the states of Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luís Potosí, and Tamaulipas.

TAXONOMY AND NAME
This species is in the Fabaceae, the legume family. There are 14 accepted species in the genus Mariosousa with a restricted range in Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States.
This plant was formerly known as Acacia coulteri.
Mariosousa honors Mario Sousa, former Director of the Herbarium of the Instituto de Biología (MEXU), Universidad Autónoma de Mexico, who has done extensive work in Acacia systematics. The specific epithet coulteri is named to honor Dr. Thomas Coulter (1793-1843), an Irish physician, botanist and explorer. Dr. Coulter was one of the first botanists to collect plants and conduct botanical research in Arizona.