Acacia colei

Cole's wattle
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. colei
Binomial name
Acacia colei Maslin & L.A.J. Thomson [1]
Range of Acacia colei
Synonyms [1]
Racosperma colei(Maslin & L.A.J.Thomson) Pedley Acacia holosericeaauct. non A.Cunn. ex G. Don Pedley, L. (1964) Acacia holosericeaauct. non A.Cunn. ex G.Don: Maslin, B.R. in Jessop, J.P. (ed.) (1981)

Flowers and foliage

Var. ileocarpa seed pods

Acacia colei, commonly known as Cole's wattle, kalkardi, candelabra wattle or soap wattle, ^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to northern Australia. It is a spreading shrub or tree with narrowly elliptic, more or less straight phyllodes, spikes of golden yellow flowers, and openly and strongly curved, thinly leathery to crust-like, more or less glabrous pods.

The Walmajarri people in the Kimberley call this wattle, parta, ^[3] the Djaru people call it barrawi or barrabi. ^[4]

Description

Acacia colei is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 2–4 m (6 ft 7 in – 13 ft 1 in), sometimes a tree to 9 m (30 ft). Its new shoots are covered with silky, pale yellow-brown hairs that soon age to silvery. The branchlets are covered with silvery, silky hairs. The phyllodes are ascending, narrowly elliptic and more or less straight, 7–23 mm (0.28–0.91 in) long, 10–45 mm (0.39–1.77 in) wide, and often shallowly turned down at tip. The flowers are borne in two spikes in axils on peduncles 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long, each spike 30–70 mm (1.2–2.8 in) long with golden yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from May to September, and the pods are curved or coiled depending on subspecies, thinly leathery to crust-like, 3.5–4 mm (0.14–0.16 in) wide. the seeds are oblong, glossy, very dark brown to black with a bright yellow aril. ^{[2] [5]}

Taxonomy

Acacia colei was first formally described in 1992 by Bruce Maslin and Lex Thomson in the journal Australian Systematic Botany from specimens collected in the Broome townsite in 1991. ^[6] The specific epithet (colei) honours the CSIRO seed collector, Mr E.G. (Jerry) Cole, "who assisted in extensive botanical and seed collections of A. colei in 1984". ^[2]

In 1997, Maurice W. McDonald and Bruce Maslin described var. ileocarpa, and its name and that of the autonym are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

• Acacia coleiMaslin & L.A.J.Thomson var. colei (the autonym) ^[7] has phyllodes 20–45 mm (0.79–1.77 in) wide, curved pods, sometimes into an open circle, and seeds 3.5–4.0 mm (0.14–0.16 in) long. ^[8]
• Acacia colei var. ileocarpaM.W.McDonald & Maslin ^[9] has phyllodes 10–25 mm (0.39–0.98 in) wide, tightly and irregularly coiled or twisted pods, and seeds 3.0–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) long. ^[10]

Distribution and habitat

Cole's wattle is found throughout northern Australia between latitudes of 16°S and 22°S from the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of Western Australia in the west extending east through the Tanami Desert and Great Sandy Deserts in the Northern Territory and into the Simpson Desert and Gulf Country of western Queensland. ^{[4] [2] [5] [8]} It is well adapted to an arid environment and is found in a variety of habitats including stony hills and ridges, sandplains, floodplains and along drainage lines growing in stony, sandy, clay-loam soils. ^{[11] [12]}

Variety ileocarpa has a scattered distribution in the southern Kimberley region and adjacent parts of western Northern Territory, and a restricted distribution in the Pilbara region. ^{[10] [13]}

Uses

Its uses include environmental management, forage and wood. ^[14] The seeds are good-tasting ^[15] and are potentially useful as food for humans. The results of tests in Nigeria for the feasibility of raising the tree as a drought-resistant food crop came out very positively. ^[5]

Phytochemistry

There are several recent reports that up to 1.8% dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is present in the bark. ^[16]

See also

• List of Acacia species

References

1. "Acacia colei". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
2. Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia colei". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
3. Doonday, Bessie (2013). Walmajarri plants & animals : Aboriginal biocultural knowledge from the Paruku Indigenous Protected Area, southern Kimberely, Australia. Palmerston, Northern Territory: Dept. of Land Resource Management. ISBN   9781743500255.
4. "Acacia colei". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
5. "Acacia colei". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium . Retrieved 27 July 2019.
6. "Acacia colei". APNI. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
7. "Acacia colei var. colei". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
8. Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia colei var. colei". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
9. "Acacia colei var. ileocarpa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
10. Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia colei var. ileocarpa". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
11. "Acacia colei". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
12. "Acacia colei var. colei". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
13. "Acacia colei var. ileocarpa". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
14. International Legume Database & Information Service (ILDIS)
15. ECHO Archived May 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Education Concerns for Hunger Organization
16. Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, ABC Radio 2005.