Earleaf acacia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
Genus: | Acacia |
Species: | A. auriculiformis |
Binomial name | |
Acacia auriculiformis | |
Occurrence data from AVH |
Acacia auriculiformis, commonly known as earleaf acacia, earpod wattle, auri (in the Philippines), karuvel (in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) and aakashmani (in West Bengal), is a fast-growing, crooked, gnarly tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It grows up to 30 metres (98 ft) tall. [2] Acacia auriculiformis has about 47,000 seeds per kilogram (21,000/lb). [3]
Acacia auriculiformis is an evergreen tree that grows between to 15–30 metres (49–98 ft) tall, with a trunk as high as 12 m (39 ft) and 50 cm (1 ft 8 in) in diameter. [4] The trunk is crooked and the bark vertically fissured. Roots are shallow and spreading.
It has dense foliage with an open, spreading crown. Leaves 10–16 cm (4–6 in) long and 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1.0 in) wide with 3–8 parallel nerves, thick, leathery and curved.
Flowers are 8 cm (3.1 in) long and in pairs, creamy yellow and sweet scented. Pods are about 6.5 cm × 1.5 cm (2.6 in × 0.6 in), flat, cartilaginous, glaucous, transversely veined with undulate margins. They are initially straight but on maturity become twisted with irregular spirals. Seeds are transversely held in the pod, broadly ovate to elliptical, about 4–6 mm x 3–4 mm (0.16-0.24 in x 0.12-0.16 in). At Kozhikode (Kerala, India), flocks of jungle crow (large-billed crow, Corvus macrorhynchos), grey-headed myna (chestnut-tailed starling, Sturnia malabarica) and red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) have been observed to feed on the seeds with the aril, which is exposed when the pods are split. These birds also probably help in dispersal of seeds. [5]
The generic name Acacia comes from the Greek word akis meaning a point or a barb and the specific epithet comes from the Latin auricula- external ear of animals and forma- form, figure or shape, alluding to the shape of the pod.
Local names on the subcontinent: Telugu: Minnumaanu (మిన్నుమాను), Kondamanu (కొండ మాను), Seema Babul (సీమ బాబుల్), Maha Babul (మహా బాబుల్); Bengali: Akaashmoni; Tamil: Karuvel, Thai: กระถินณรงค์
This plant is raised as an ornamental plant, as a shade tree and it is also raised on plantations for fuelwood throughout southeast Asia, Oceania and in Sudan. Its wood is good for making paper, furniture and tools. It contains tannin useful in animal hide tanning. In India, its wood and charcoal are widely used for fuel. Gum from the tree is sold commercially, but it is said not to be as useful as gum arabic. [2] In Thailand the small fresh leaves are eaten, often with nam prik chili sauce or papaya salad. The tree is used to make an analgesic by indigenous Australians. [6] Extracts of Acacia auriculiformis heartwood inhibit fungi that attack wood. [7] Aqueous extracts of A. auriculiformis show developmental inhibitory effects on Bactrocera cucurbitae (the melon fly). [8]
Functional uses
Products
Services
Pests and diseases
In Indonesia, growth rate has been impaired by a rust fungus, Uromyces digitatus ; in India, root rot caused by a fungus ( Ganoderma lucidum ) has been reported. A beetle ( Sinoxylon spp.) can girdle young stems and branches, causing them to break. The insect is of concern, because the tree will develop multiple leaders if the main stem is damaged and the length of the bole will be reduced.[ citation needed ] Nambiar and Harwood 2014 find severe disease losses in plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia. [9] This is serious enough to require resistance breeding be a high priority in Acacia breeding. [9]
The honey locust, also known as the thorny locust or thorny honeylocust, is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to central North America where it is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys. Honey locust trees are highly adaptable to different environments, and the species has been introduced worldwide. Outside its natural range it can be an aggressive, damaging invasive species.
Enterolobium cyclocarpum, commonly known as conacaste, guanacaste, caro caro, devil's ear tree, monkey-ear tree, or elephant-ear tree, is a species of flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, that is native to tropical regions of the Americas, from central Mexico south to northern Brazil (Roraima) and Venezuela. It is known for its large proportions, expansive, often spherical crown, and curiously shaped seedpods. The abundance of this tree, especially in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, where it is prized for the shady relief it provides from the intense sun, coupled with its immensity, have made it a widely recognized species. It is the national tree of Costa Rica.
Acacia pycnantha, most commonly known as the golden wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae. It grows to a height of 8 metres and has phyllodes instead of true leaves. The profuse fragrant, golden flowers appear in late winter and spring, followed by long seed pods. Explorer Thomas Mitchell collected the type specimen, from which George Bentham wrote the species description in 1842. The species is native to southeastern Australia as an understorey plant in eucalyptus forest. Plants are cross-pollinated by several species of honeyeater and thornbill, which visit nectaries on the phyllodes and brush against flowers, transferring pollen between them.
Acacia, commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about 1,084 species of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Australasia, but is now reserved for species mainly from Australia, with others from New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean. The genus name is Neo-Latin, borrowed from the Greek ἀκακία, a term used in antiquity to describe a preparation extracted from Vachellia nilotica, the original type species.
Acacia melanoxylon, commonly known as the Australian blackwood, is an Acacia species native to south-eastern Australia. The species is also known as blackwood, hickory, mudgerabah, Tasmanian blackwood, or blackwood acacia. The tree belongs to the Plurinerves section of Acacia and is one of the most wide-ranging tree species in eastern Australia and is quite variable mostly in the size and shape of the phyllodes.
Vachellia tortilis, widely known as Acacia tortilis but now attributed to the genus Vachellia, is the umbrella thorn acacia, also known as umbrella thorn and Israeli babool, a medium to large canopied tree native to most of Africa, primarily to the savanna and Sahel of Africa, but also occurring in the Middle East.
Pongamia pinnata is a species of tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, native to eastern and tropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. It is the sole species in genus Pongamia. It is often known by the synonym Millettia pinnata. Its common names include Indian beech and Pongame oiltree.
Acacia implexa, commonly known as lightwood or hickory wattle, is a fast-growing Australian tree, the timber of which is used for furniture making. The wood is prized for its finish and strength. The foliage was used to make pulp and dye cloth.
Acaciella angustissima is most recognized for its drought tolerance and its ability to be used as a green manure and ground covering. It is a perennial, deciduous, and belongs to the family Fabaceae (beans/legumes) and as it grows it starts as a shrub but eventually matures to a small tree. The tree has a high density of leaves along with small clumps of white flowers and creates 4–7 cm long seed pods. Acaciella angustissima is found in tropical areas around the equator since, its water needs can vary from 750 to 2,500 mm a year. It has an advantage it can withstand a moderate drought, since its leaves are retained even in long dry periods. Aside from being drought tolerant, Acaciella angustissima also has the benefit of being a green manure, since it has such a high leaf density, but also loses the majority of its leaves each season. So the leaves can be used in composting or can be saved and used as livestock feed. It should only be used as an additive to the feed and not the main source, since it also toxic in high doses.
Acacia salicina is a thornless species of Acacia native to Australia. It is a large shrub or small evergreen tree growing up to 13.7 m tall. It is a fast grower, dropping lots of leaf litter, with a life span of about 10–50 years. In its native range, A. salicina flowers from February to June. In the Northern Hemisphere, A. salicina flowers primarily from October to January and the seed pods are often visible from April to July. The tree's seeds are shiny, black and have a crimson appendage-like aril. A. salicina is "closely related" to Acacia ligulata and Acacia bivenosa.
Acacia penninervis, commonly known as mountain hickory wattle, or blackwood, is a perennial shrub or tree is an Acacia belonging to subgenus Phyllodineae, that is native to eastern Australia.
Acacia mangium is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to northeastern Queensland in Australia, the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, Papua, and the eastern Maluku Islands. Common names include black wattle, hickory wattle, mangium, and forest mangrove. Its uses include environmental management and wood.
Dalbergia sissoo, known commonly as North Indian rosewood or shisham, is a fast-growing, hardy, deciduous rosewood tree native to the Indian subcontinent and southern Iran. D. sissoo is a large, crooked tree with long, leathery leaves and whitish or pink flowers.
Gliricidia sepium, often simply referred to as gliricidia or by its Spanish common name madre de cacao, is a medium size leguminous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is an important multi-purpose legume tree, with a native range from Mexico to Colombia, but now widely introduced to other tropical zones.
Acacia flavescens, also known as the red wattle, yellow wattle or primrose ball wattle, is a tree in the genus Acacia native to eastern Australia.
Albizia odoratissima, a member of the family Fabaceae, is a fast-growing, deciduous tree reaching 15 to 25 m in height, a diameter of 120–150 cm (47–59 in), and native to large parts of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and China. It is one of the top nitrogen-fixing trees.
Calliandra calothyrsus is a small leguminous tree or large shrub in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the tropics of Central America where its typical habitat is wet tropical forests or seasonally dry forests with a dry season of four to seven months, when it may become deciduous. This tree grows to about 6 m (20 ft) and has pinnate compound leaves and flowers with a boss of prominent reddish-purple stamens. It is not very drought-tolerant, and the above-ground parts can be short-lived in case of severe drought lasting many months, but the roots regularly resprout.
Acacia dictyophleba, also known as the sandhill wattle, waxy wattle, feather veined wattle, and spear tree, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae, found in Australia. The Nyangumarta peoples know the plant as Langkur or Lungkun; the Thalanyji know it as Jabandi; and the Pintupi know it as mulyati.
Acacia shirleyi, known colloquially as lancewood, is a species of Acacia native to Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia. It grows as a tree to 15 metres (49 ft) high, with dark grey or black stringy bark and blue-grey foliage. The yellow flowers appear from March to July. It grows in dry scrub, open forest or mixed savannah woodland. Indigenous people used the wood as fuel and to make hunting spears. Cattle can eat the foliage as fodder.
Acacia tephrina, commonly known as boree, is a tree of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is endemic to an area of north eastern Australia. It is rated as being of least concern according to Nature Conservation Act 1992.