Acacia carneorum

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Purple-wood wattle
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. carneorum
Binomial name
Acacia carneorum
Acacia carneorumDistMap164.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [2]

Acacia carneiMaiden

Acacia carneorum, also referred to as purple-wood wattle, needle wattle, dead finish or by its former scientific name, Acacia carnei, [3] is a plant species in the genus Acacia .

Contents

It occurs in small populations in far north-west New South Wales and South Australia. [4]

Purple-wood wattle is a threatened shrub, listed as vulnerable under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and South Australia National Parks and Wildlife Act 1992. [3] [5]

Description

The wattle is distinctly known for its deep-purple heartwood. [4] However, once cut and left exposed to air for a few weeks, the purple turns near black. [6] From the exterior, the wattle is a dark green, prickly shrub to small tree that can grow 2–4 m high and up to 8m wide. [4] [6] The growth rate is very slow in mature plants, shown through photo points of over 30 years. [6] The prickly appearance of the shrub refers to the pointy phyllodes (leaves), which are rigid, straight, 4 angled and linear in shape. [2] Furthermore, the leaves are approximately 2–9 cm long and 1-2mm wide, subglaucous (between glaucous and green) with lighter coloured veins at each angle and hairless with age. [2] The flowers are bright yellow, fuzzy spheres, 7-10mm in diameter that come singularly or rarely in pairs and are located on 12-25mm hairy stalks in the axil of phyllodes. [2] [4] The pods are 3–5 cm long and 10mm wide, straight or slightly curved and made of a hard and woody material covered in little, soft, white hairs with slight constrictions between seeds. [4]

Carbon dating has found that these plants range from approximately 120–330 years of age and this research also found that populations are heavily skewed towards older plants, meaning there has been little or no replacement in these populations since the introduction of grazing animals in the 1860s. [5] This however is not the only reason for small populations. The plant has an ancient history of asexual reproduction along with habitat disturbance which both have affected the setting of seed. [5]

Reproduction

Inflorescences display a short protogynous phase (female organs mature first) and the majority are simultaneously hermaphroditic (bi-sexual). [7] Most species of Acacia are at least partially self-incompatible but this is not known with purple-wood wattle. [5] The fruits are orange, woody arils and may remain on the parent for several years after splitting open. [8] [5] Fruit production is very rare. [8] Studies from 2010 to 2012 show that most populations continue to produce no fruit. [7] There is rarely pod and seed production in these plants and the setting of viable seed is rare. [6] Successful reproduction is very limited, only two study sites represent known seed sources in NSW. [4] Majority of reproduction is clonal. [8] Root suckers are produced twice a year during autumn and spring growth. [8]

Purple wood wattle's dominant reproductive mode is clonal. [5] Clonal reproduction is favoured in situations where the trade-off between survival and seed production favours survival or if disturbance is preventing flowering and fruiting. [5] Clonality can result in permanent failure of sexual reproduction. [5] It can also result in low genetic diversity thus increasing the risk of extinction. [5] Genetic diversity within populations that can demonstrate both sexual and clonal reproduction can remain high even with low levels of sexual recruitment. [5] Purple wood wattle has a long history of genetic isolation which pre-dates land use changes. [5]

Ecology

Commonly found growing in a widespread mound of drift sand. [6] Grows in grassland and woodland in red sandy soils. [2] Preferred soils are shallow, calcareous and loamy which includes: alkaline soils, brown earths and red duplex soils usually on dune crests or slopes. [4] Purple wood wattle is commonly associated with Casuarina cristata , Casuarina pauper , Alectryon oleifolius , Atriplex vesicaria , Rhagodia spinescens and Maireana spp. [3]

Purple-wood wattle produces flowers after heavy rainfall events at any time of year. [6] The most frequent pollinators of purple-wood wattle are wasps, native bees, flies and butterflies. [5] Although the plant is visited by a wide range of native pollinators but a small number of these visitors are effective pollinators. [7] The success of purple wood wattle is not related to its reproductive failure. [7] The fruits suggest an adaptation to seed dispersal by birds. [5] This may explain far reaching isolated populations. [8]

Threats

The main threat primarily responsible for purple-wood wattle lack of regeneration are rabbits. [8] Rabbits strip bark, killing the plants by ringbarking. [8] Rabbits also expose roots and destabilise sand dunes by burrowing. [4] Newly emergent suckers are eaten by grazers such as rabbits and stock which has led to the mortality of established plants. [4] Other threats include, goats and kangaroos who strip the phyllodes and cattle that shade by trees thereby destabilising soils. [4]

Taxonomy

Purple-wood wattle is from the family Mimosaceae. [3] Purple- wood wattle is included in the sub-genus Phyllodineae. [7] Through flavonoid analysis, the species has been found to be related to A. crombiei and A. peuce. [9] The species was originally described as Acacia carnei and Hall & Johnson suggested the change to A. carneorum, which honours both geologist Joseph Carne (1855-1922) and his botanist son Walter M. Carne (1885-1952), which has now been widely adopted. [3]

Distribution

Known extant populations occur in the arid zone west of the Darling River in South-east Australia. [10] The Acacia is predicted to occur in Sturt National Park, NSW. [11] Majority of these stands occur outside of reserves with only 34% of stands occurring in conservation areas. [10] There are approximately 240 distinct genetic individuals which are mostly polyploid and separated by >10 kilometres (6 mi) of unsuitable habitat. [10] The nearest small patch of population may be several hundred kilometres away from the last. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Acacia pycnantha</i> Golden wattle of southeastern Australia

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.

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

Acacia cyclops, commonly known as coastal wattle, cyclops wattle, one-eyed wattle, red-eyed wattle, redwreath acacia, western coastal wattle, rooikrans, rooikrans acacia, is a coastal shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae. Native to Australia, it is distributed along the west coast of Western Australia as far north as Leeman, and along the south coast into South Australia. The Noongar peoples of Western Australia know the plant as wilyawa or woolya wah.

<i>Acacia saligna</i> Species of plant in the family Fabaceae native to Australia

Acacia saligna, commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family Fabaceae. Native to Australia, it is widely distributed throughout the south west corner of Western Australia, extending north as far as the Murchison River, and east to Israelite Bay. The Noongar peoples know the tree as Cujong.

<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 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 inaequilatera</i> Species of legume

Acacia inaequilatera, commonly known as kanji bush, baderi, camel bush, fire wattle, kanyji bush or ranji bush is a tree in the family Mimosaceae. Endemic to Australia, it is widely distributed in the semi-arid Triodia country eastwards from Karratha, Western Australia into the Northern Territory.

<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 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.

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

Acacia ligulata is a species of Acacia, a dense shrub widespread in all states of mainland Australia. It is not considered rare or endangered. Its common names include sandhill wattle, umbrella bush, marpoo, dune wattle, small coobah, wirra, and watarrka.

<i>Acacia holosericea</i> Species of shrub

Acacia holosericea is a shrub native to tropical and inland northern Australia. It is commonly known as soapbush wattle, soapbush, strap wattle, candelabra wattle, silver wattle and silky wattle.

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

Acacia lineataA.Cunn. ex G.Don, commonly known as streaked wattle or narrow lined-leaved wattle, occurs naturally inland eastern Australia. The genus Acacia is the largest genus of flowering plants in Australia, containing around 1000 species throughout a diverse range of environments from coast to desert.

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

Acacia peuce, commonly known as Birdsville wattle, waddy, waddi, or waddy-wood, is a tree species that is endemic to central Australia. The Arunda peoples know the tree as Aratara, the Pitta Pitta know it as Kurriyapiri and Red Ochre Father while the lower Arrernte know it as Arripar.

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

Acacia cana, or commonly named as boree or the cabbage-tree wattle or broad-leaved nealie, is part of the family Fabaceae and sub-family Mimosoideae. It is a dense shrub- tree that can grow to 6 metres (20 ft) high and is a perennial plant meaning it has long life span and doesn’t necessary produce a high amount of seed. The cabbage-tree wattle heavily flowers from August till October and relies on animals and insects for pollination and dispersal of seeds. This least concern acacia species is found in the western plains of New South Wales and Central Queensland the habitats of these areas are found to be sandy soils and gibber plains.

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

Acacia ramulosa, commonly known as horse mulga or bowgada wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae endemic to arid areas of Australia.

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

Acacia tenuissima, commonly known as narrow-leaved wattle, broom wattle, minyana, slender mulga or slender wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae endemic to temperate and tropical areas of Australia. Indigenous Australians the Kurrama peoples know the plant as Janangungu and the Banyjima know it as Murruthurru.

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

Acacia trachycarpa, commonly known as minni ritchi, curly-bark tree, sweet-scented minni ritchi or Pilbara minni ritchi, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia.

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

Acacia acuaria is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-western of Western Australia. It is a rounded or diffuse to spreading, prickly shrub with sharply pointed, rigid, needle-shaped phyllodes, flowers arranged in more or less spherical heads of 14 to 23 flowers, and strongly curved or openly coiled pods up to 50 mm (2.0 in) long.

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

Acacia crombiei, commonly known as pink gidgee, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is native to central Queensland.

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

Acacia glandulicarpa, commonly known as the hairy-pod wattle, is a perennial shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodinea that is native to parts of south eastern Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Acacia carneorum, Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australia.. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kodela, P. G. (2012). "Acacia carneorum Maiden". PlantNET.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Approved Conservation Advice for Acacia carneorum (Needle Wattle)" (PDF). Department of the Environment Water Heritage and the Arts. 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Purple-wood Wattle - profile". Office of Environment & Heritage. 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 o'Brien, Eleanor K; Denham, Andrew J; Ayre, David J (2013). "Patterns of genotypic diversity suggest a long history of clonality and population isolation in the Australian arid zone shrub Acacia carneorum". Plant Ecology. 215 (1): 55–71. doi:10.1007/s11258-013-0278-7. JSTOR   24552069. S2CID   17031988.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Significant Flora Fact Sheet: Purplewood Wattle" (PDF). South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board. 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Gilpin, Amy-Marie; Ayre, David J; Denham, Andrew J (2013). "Can the pollination biology and floral ontogeny of the threatened Acacia carneorum explain its lack of reproductive success?". Ecological Research. 29 (2): 225–35. doi:10.1007/s11284-013-1117-y. S2CID   17905975.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Auld, Tony D (1993). "The impact of grazing on regeneration of the shrub Acacia carnei in Arid Australia". Biological Conservation. 65 (2): 165–76. Bibcode:1993BCons..65..165A. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(93)90446-8.
  9. ↑ "Acacia carneorum — Needle Wattle, Dead Finish, Purple-wood Wattle". Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of the Environment and Energy. 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 Roberts, David G; Forrest, Cairo N; Denham, Andrew J; Ayre, David J (2017). "Clonality disguises the vulnerability of a threatened arid zone Acacia". Ecology and Evolution. 7 (22): 9451–9460. Bibcode:2017EcoEv...7.9451R. doi:10.1002/ece3.3246. PMC   5696425 . PMID   29187981.
  11. ↑ "Sturt National Park Plan of Management". Office of Environment & Heritage. 2018.
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