Acacia homalophylla

Last updated

Yarran
Acacia homalophylla.jpg
Specimen growing near Nyngan, New South Wales, Australia.
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. homalophylla
Binomial name
Acacia homalophylla
A. Cunn. ex Benth.
Acacia homalophyllaDistMap440.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms
  • Acacia omalophylla
  • Racosperma omalophyllum

Acacia homalophylla is a small tree found in the eastern half of Australia, where it is known as the yarran. [1] It has also been introduced into India and Pakistan. [2]

Contents

Description

Acacia homalophylla has a clean trunk and leafy head, a dark gray, rough bark, narrow, usually straight leaves, and yellow flowers in balls. The leaves are edible and used for fodder. [3] It usually flowers in August–October, sometimes November.

It yields a gum. [4] Its wood (called myall-wood) is durable, fragrant, and dark-colored, and used by the natives for spears. [5]

The tree or shrub can grow to a height of 7 m (23 ft) and has an erect or spreading nabit and is often suckering. It has glabrous branchlets that can be slightly hairy on new growth and are angled at extremities. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The evergreen, grey-green phyllodes have a narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate or more or less linear shape and are straight to slightly curved with a length of 4 to 11 cm (1.6 to 4.3 in) and a width of 4 to 7 mm (0.16 to 0.28 in) and have many longitudinal veins that are usually obscure but occasionally with have three or more that are more prominent. [6] The inflorescences occur in groups of one to three in the axils and have sperical flower-heads with a diameter of 4 to 6 mm (0.16 to 0.24 in) and contain 20 to 30 bright yellow coloured flowers. Following flowering firmly papery to thin leathery seed pods form thar are straight and flat with a length of up to 7 cm (2.8 in) and a width of 3 to 7 mm (0.12 to 0.28 in). [6]

Etymology

The name probably refers to the smoothness of the phyllodes, which are flat and often appear veinless. Bentham, when publishing this species, used the spelling omalophylla, which he corrected to 'homalophylla' in his Flora of Australiense in 1864. The former spelling is used by some botanists and authors. [6]

Distribution

It has a scattered distribution through Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. In New South Wales it is found to the west of Muswellbrook and Emmaville and is often a part of Casuarina cristata , rosewood and box communities growing in brown earthy soils. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

Acacia neriifolia, also known as the oleander wattle, silver wattle or pechy wattle, is a tree in the genus Acacia native to north eastern Australia. It is common in the Moonbi Ranges.

<i>Acacia bakeri</i> Species of tree

Acacia bakeri, known as the marblewood, white marblewood, Baker's wattle or scrub wattle, is one of the largest of all acacias, growing to 40 m (130 ft) tall. It is a long-lived climax rainforest tree from eastern Australia. Unlike most acacias, fire is not required for seed germination. This tree is considered vulnerable to extinction. Its former habitat is lowland sub tropical rainforest which has been mostly cleared in the 19th and 20th centuries.

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

Acacia effusifolia is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to an area in the Mid West and the Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia.

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

Acacia orthocarpa, also commonly known as Pilbara weeping wattle, needle-leaf wattle or straight-podded wattle, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to tropical parts of northern Australia. The indigenous Nyangumarta peoples know it as yartupu.

Acacia paula is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to a small area of north western Australia.

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

Acacia signata is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to western Australia.

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

Acacia umbraculiformis, commonly known as western umbrella wattle, is a tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae native to western Australia.

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

Acacia trineura, known colloquially as three-nerve wattle or three nerved wattle or green wattle, is a species of Acacia native to south eastern Australia.

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

Acacia juncifolia, commonly known as rush-leaf wattle, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to north eastern Australia.

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

Acacia pilligaensis, commonly known as Pillaga wattle or pinbush wattle, is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae native to eastern Australia.

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

Acacia saliciformis is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae native to eastern Australia.

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

Acacia torringtonensis is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae native to eastern Australia.

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

Acacia burrowii, commonly known as Burrow's wattle, is a tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to eastern Australia.

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

Acacia doratoxylon, commonly known as currawang, lancewood, spearwood or coast myall, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to eastern and south eastern Australia.

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

Acacia multistipulosa is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to northern Australia.

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

Acacia mariae, commonly known as golden-top wattle or crowned wattle, is a species of wattle native to central New South Wales.

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

Acacia spania, also known as western rosewood, is a tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to north eastern Australia.

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

Acacia rhodoxylon, also known as rosewood, ringy rosewood or spear wattle, is a tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to north eastern Australia.

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

Acacia baueri, commonly known as tiny wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Lycopodiifoliae that is native to an area along the coast in eastern Australia.

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

Acacia excelsa, also known as ironwood, rosewood, bunkerman and doodlallie is a tree of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is endemic to inland parts of north-eastern Australia. In the Gamilaraay language it is known as dhan, gayan or gan.

References

  1. "Atlas of living Australia". Archived from the original on 21 December 2014.
  2. "International Legume Database".
  3. "Everist, 1969".
  4. Sturtevant's notes on edible plants. 1919. p.  19.
  5. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. 1913.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Plantnet" . Retrieved 20 December 2014.