Acacia coriacea

Last updated

Desert oak
Acacia coriaceae.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. coriacea
Binomial name
Acacia coriacea
DC.
Acacia coriaceaDistMap219.png
Occurrence data from AVH

Acacia coriacea, commonly known as river jam, wirewood, desert oak, wiry wattle or dogwood, is a tree in the family Mimosoideae of family Fabaceae. Indigenous Australians know the plant as Gunandru. [1]

Contents

Description

A. coriacea seed pod CSIRO ScienceImage 1564 Acacia coriacea Seed Pod.jpg
A. coriacea seed pod

River jam grows to a height of about eight metres. It usually has just one or two main trunks. Like most Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. These are thick and leathery, between twenty and thirty centimetres long, and narrow. The flowers are yellow, and held in spherical clusters about five millimetres in diameter. The pods are usually curled up, but are around twenty centimetres long when straightened. They are greatly constricted between the seeds. [2] Indigenous Australians used the seeds of the plant as a food source. [1]

Distribution

Acacia coriacea occurs throughout northern Australia, growing as a tall tree on the banks of rivers. It can also occur as a spreading, low tree behind coastal dunes and on 'spinifex' plains. [3]

Common name issues

In some parts of A. coriacea's range the common name "desert oak" is prevalent, [4] but throughout the larger part of that range this name is often applied to another tree, Allocasuarina decaisneana. [5] [6]

The name "Dogwood" is used for numerous plant species in Australia and elsewhere, see Dogwood (disambiguation).

Varieties

There are three subspecies. [7]

Acacia coriacea subsp. coriacea
Acacia coriacea subsp. pendens
Acacia coriacea subsp. sericophylla

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Acacia anastema</i> Species of legume

Acacia anastema, commonly known as sandridge gidgee or just gidgee, is a tree in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs within a fairly small area of semi-arid land east of Carnarvon.

<i>Acacia brachystachya</i> Species of plant

Acacia brachystachya, commonly known as umbrella mulga, turpentine mulga or false bowgada, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. The species occurs in mulga and heath communities on sandhills and rocky ridges in all mainland states of Australia, except Victoria.

<i>Acacia citrinoviridis</i> Species of legume

Acacia citrinoviridis, commonly known as black mulga, river jam, milhan or wantan, is a tree in the family Fabaceae that is native to western Australia.

<i>Acacia coolgardiensis</i> Species of legume

Acacia coolgardiensis, commonly known as sugar brother or spinifex wattle, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it is widely distributed in the semi-arid spinifex country from Carnarvon to Kalgoorlie.

<i>Acacia craspedocarpa</i> Species of legume

Acacia craspedocarpa, commonly known as hop mulga or the broad-leaved mulga, is a shrub or tree in the family Fabaceae native to central parts of western Australia.

<i>Acacia cuspidifolia</i> Species of legume

Acacia cuspidifolia, commonly known as wait-a-while or bohemia, is a tree in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs on the floodplains east of Carnarvon.

<i>Acacia cyperophylla</i> Species of plant

Acacia cyperophylla, commonly known as creekline miniritchie or red mulga, is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The species' range extends across arid and semi-arid regions of Central Australia, from Carnarvon in Western Australia to western Queensland and eastern New South Wales. It is commonly found growing in areas of slightly higher soil moisture such as in drainage lines and on the banks of rivers and creeks.

<i>Acacia grasbyi</i> Species of plant

Acacia grasbyi, commonly known as miniritchie, is a shrub or tree in the family Fabaceae that is endemic to parts of arid western and central Australia.

<i>Acacia kempeana</i> Species of plant

Acacia kempeana, commonly known as wanderrie wattle, witchetty bush or granite wattle, is a shrub in subfamily Mimosoideae of family Fabaceae that is endemic to arid parts of central and western Australia.

<i>Acacia hemiteles</i> Species of legume

Acacia hemiteles, commonly known as tan wattle, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. It is widely distributed throughout south central Western Australia. It was formerly thought to be endemic to Western Australia, but has recently been collected near Maralinga in South Australia. Tan wattle is a good coloniser of disturbed or burnt ground, and is therefore often seen in mining areas.

<i>Acacia tetragonophylla</i> Species of plant

Acacia tetragonophylla, commonly known as curara, kurara or dead finish, is a tree in the family Fabaceae that is endemic to arid and semi-arid parts of central and western Australia.

<i>Acacia sclerosperma</i> Species of legume

Acacia sclerosperma, commonly known as limestone wattle or silver bark wattle, is a tree in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs on floodplains and along water-courses throughout the arid north-west corner of the State.

<i>Acacia quadrimarginea</i> Species of legume

Acacia quadrimarginea, commonly known as granite wattle or spreading wattle, is a tree in the family Mimosaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs through arid south-central Western Australia. It is common on granite, but also occurs on sand and clay, and is often seen along creeklines in rocky hills.

<i>Acacia pruinocarpa</i> Species of plant

Acacia pruinocarpa, commonly known as black gidgee, gidgee or tawu, is a tree in the family Fabaceae that is endemic to arid parts of Australia.

<i>Acacia murrayana</i> Species of legume

Acacia murrayana is a tree in the family Fabaceae. It has numerous common names, including sandplain wattle, Murray's wattle, fire wattle, colony wattle and powder bark wattle that is endemic to arid areas in every mainland State except Victoria.

Acacia ramulosa var. linophylla, commonly known as bowgada, wanderry mulga, horse mulga or sometimes wanyu, is a subspecies of the tree species Acacia ramulosa, with which it shares several common names. While the parent species is found throughout arid Australia, this subspecies is much more restricted, being found only on loose red sand in south central Western Australia and sporadically in South Australia. The species was formally named Acacia linophylla until 2001, when it was recognised as a variety of Acacia ramulosa.

<i>Allocasuarina decaisneana</i> Species of plant

Allocasuarina decaisneana or desert oak is a medium-sized, slow-growing tree found in the dry desert regions of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. The Anangu peoples know the tree as kurkara.

<i>Erodium cygnorum</i> Species of plant

Erodium cygnorum is a species of herb native to Australia.

<i>Acacia calcicola</i> Species of plant

Acacia calcicola is a shrub or tree of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is native to parts of central Australia. Common names for this species include; shrubby wattle, shrubby mulga, myall-gidgee, northern myall and grey myall. Indigenous Australians the Pitjantjatjara peoples know the tree as ikatuka, the Warlpiri know it as jirlarti and the Arrernte know it as irrakwetye.

<i>Acacia sericophylla</i> Species of legume

Acacia sericophylla is a shrub or tree commonly known as the desert dogwood, desert oak or cork-bark wattle. To the Indigenous Australian people of the Pilbara, the Nyangumarta peoples, it is known as Pirrkala. The species is of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 David R. Harris; Gordon C. Hillman (2014). Foraging and Farming: The Evolution of Plant Exploitation. Routledge. ISBN   9781317598299.
  2. "Acacia coriacea". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. Mitchell, A.A., Wilcox, D.G. (1988). Arid Shrubland Plants of Western Australia. Perth: University of Western Australia Press. p. 382. ISBN   978-1-875560-22-6.
  4. Jessop, J.P.; Toelken, H.R. (1986). Flora of South Australia Part II. State Herbarium of South Australia. Adelaide: South Australian Government Printing Division. p. 530. ISBN   0-7243-4656-2.
  5. Jessop, J.P., State Herbarium of South Australia; Toelken, H.R. (1986). Flora of South Australia Part I. Adelaide: South Australian Government Printing Division. p. 109. ISBN   0-7243-4648-1.
  6. Western Australian Herbarium. "Allocasuarina decaisneana (F.Muell.) L.A.S.Johnson Desert Oak". Department of Environment and Conservation. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  7. "ABRS Flora of Australia Online Search Results".
  8. Australian Plant Name Index (APNI)

General references