Acacia holosericea

Strap 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. holosericea
Binomial name
Acacia holosericea A.Cunn. ex G.Don [1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]
Acacia holosericea var. glabrata Maiden Acacia holosericeaA.Cunn. ex G.Don var. holosericea Acacia holosericea var. multispirea Domin Acacia holosericea var. typicaDomin nom. inval. Acacia mangium var. holosericea(A.Cunn. ex G.Don) C.T.White Racosperma holosericeum(G.Don) Pedley Racosperma holosericeum var. glabratum(Maiden) Pedley Racosperma holosericeum(G.Don) Pedley var. holosericeum

Pods

Foliage and buds

Habit

Acacia holosericea, commonly known as candelabra wattle, soapbush, silver wattle, silver-leaved wattle ^[2] and silky wattle ^[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to tropical northern Australia. It is a shrub or tree with narrowly elliptic phyllodes, spikes of golden yellow flowers and tightly and sometimes irregularly coiled pods that remain as entangled clumps after the seeds have been released.

Description

Acacia holosericea is a shrub or tree that typically grows to 3–8 m (9.8–26.2 ft) high and 4 m (13 ft) ^[4] wide, and has branchlets and young shoots covered with silvery, silky hairs, or sometimes glabraous. Its phyllodes are obliquely narrowly elliptic, 100–200 mm (3.9–7.9 in) long, 20–50 mm (0.79–1.97 in) wide and usually covered with silky hairs, usually with three to four prominent veins. The flowers are golden yellow and borne in rod-like spikes 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long on a peduncle 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) long. The pods are tightly and somewhat irregularly coiled, 2.5–4 mm (0.098–0.157 in) wide, thinly crusty to leathery and more or less glabrous, remaining as entangled clumps after the seeds have been released. The seeds are oblong, 3.5 mm (0.14 in) long, shiny dark brown with a bright yellow aril. ^{[2] [5] [6] [7]}

Taxonomy

Acacia holosericea was first formally described in 1832 by George Don in his book A General History of Dichlamydeous Plants from an unpublished manuscript by Allan Cunningham. ^{[8] [9]} In 1978, Leslie Pedley nominated the specimens collected by Cunningham at Port Keats on the Cambridge Gulf as the lectotype. ^[10] The [[specific epithet) (holosericea) means 'entirely silky'. ^[11]

Distribution and habitat

Candelabra wattle is widespread in northern Australia extending from Derby in Western Australia, east across the Northern Territory to near Rockhampton in eastern Queensland. Smaller populations are found in arid regions of the Pilbara in the Hamersley Range, in central parts of the Northern Territory and in south-western Queensland near Blackall. It is found in and around ephemeral watercourses growing in gravelly sand or loamy soils. ^[6]

Conservation status

Acacia holosericea is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, ^[12] as of "least concern" under the Northern Territory Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act ^[13] and the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992 . ^[14]

Use in horticulture

This species of wattle can be grown by seed, although the seeds must be scarified prior to planting. It grows quickly and well in a sunny, reasonably well drained position in most soil types. It is suitable as a feature plant or as a hedge or screen plant. It has attractive foliage and fruit, and can be grown in tropical areas. ^[4]

Uses

Indigenous Australians used the plant as a fish poison. ^[3] The seeds of the plant are known to be edible. ^[15]

See also

• List of Acacia species

References

1. "Acacia holosericea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
2. "Acacia holosericea A.Cunn. ex G.Don". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Department of the Environment and Energy . Retrieved 11 August 2019.
3. F.A.Zich; B.P.M.Hyland; T.Whiffen; R.A.Kerrigan (2020). "Acacia holosericea". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants (RFK8). Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government . Retrieved 27 May 2021.
4. "Acacia holosericea". Wattles - Genus Acacia. Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 10 August 2019.
5. Maslin, Bruce R.; Kodela, Philip G. "Acacia holosericea". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
6. "Acacia holosericea". Wattles of the Pilbara. Department of Environment and Conservation. 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
7. Elliot, W.R., and Jones, D.L., Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants, 1982, ISBN   0-85091-143-5
8. "Acacia holosericea". APNI. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
9. Don, George (1832). A general history of the dichlamydeous plants. London. p. 406. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
10. Pedley, Leslie (1978). "A revision of Acacia Mill. in Queensland, Part 1". Austrobaileya. 1 (2): 181–182. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
11. Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 223. ISBN   9780958034180.
12. "Acacia holosericea". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
13. "Acacia holosericea". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
14. "Taxon - Acacia holosericea". Queensland Government WildNet. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
15. Low, T., Wild Food Plants of Australia, 1988. ISBN   0-207-16930-6