Black 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. mangium |
Binomial name | |
Acacia mangium | |
Occurrence data from AVH | |
Synonyms | |
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. [3] Common names include black wattle, hickory wattle, mangium, and forest mangrove. Its uses include environmental management and wood. [2]
It was first described in 1806 by Carl Ludwig Willdenow, who described it as living in the Moluccas. [4] [5]
Acacia mangium grows up to 30 metres (98 ft), often with a straight trunk. A. mangium has about 142,000 seeds/kg. [6] To break down dormancy mature seed requires pre-germination treatments such as mechanical scarification (scratching the surface) or boiling water. This treatment leads to a fast germination and typically exceeds 75%. [7] Like many other legumes, it is able to fix nitrogen in the soil. [8] A. mangium is a popular species for forest plantation and used more and more also for agroforestry projects. In mixed cultures, plants can profit of the shadow from A. mangium and the nitrogen fixation [9] A. mangium will tolerate low fertility soils with impeded drainage, but prefers fertile sites with good drainage. Soil depth and topographic position can influence yields. With respect to distance from the equator, there are significant differences in performance under cultivation. A mean annual height increase of about 3 to 4 m is usual near the equator. In areas further from the equator growth is slower. [7]
Acacia mangium trees produce sapwood and heartwood. The heartwood's colour is brownish yellow shimmery and medium textured. Because the timber is extremely heavy, hard, very strong, tough, and not liable to warp and crack badly it is used for furniture, doors and window frames. The glossy and smooth surface finish after polishing leads also to a potential for making export-oriented parquet flooring tiles and artifacts. [10]
A. mangium has been recognized as an excellent source of short cellulose fibers for papermaking. It is grown in plantations in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. [11]
Because Acacia mangium trees increase the turnover rate of nitrogen in the topsoil, it can improve the nitrogen availability in soils in mixed cultures. [12] Due to the fact that it is a very fast growing tree it develops an intensive rooting system, particularly in low fertility soils. [13] This helps to recover degraded tropical lands [12] The tree is widely used in Goa, India in the mining industry for rehabilitation of waste dumps as it is a drought-resistant species and binds sterile mine waste consisting of lateritic strata. [6] In Colombia, it has been used for restoring wasteland created by open-pit gold mining. [14]
The gum contains 5.4% ash, 0.98% N, 1.49% methoxyl, and by calculation, 32.2% uronic acid. [15] The sugar composition after hydrolysis: 9.0% 4-0-methylglucuronic acid, 23.2% glucuronic acid, 56% galactose, 10% arabinose, and 2% rhamnose.
A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae, or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, grass peas, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces on two sides.
Acacia koa, commonly known as koa, is a species of flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is the second most common tree. The highest populations are on Hawaiʻi, Maui and Oʻahu.
Prosopis juliflora is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite. It is native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. It has become established as an invasive weed in Africa, Asia, Australia and elsewhere. It is a contributing factor to continuing transmission of malaria, especially during dry periods when sugar sources from native plants are largely unavailable to mosquitoes.
Acacia auriculiformis, commonly known as auri, 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. Acacia auriculiformis has about 47,000 seeds per kilogram (21,000/lb).
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.
Acacia, commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus name is Neo-Latin, borrowed from the Greek ἀκακία, a term used by Dioscorides for a preparation extracted from the leaves and fruit pods of Vachellia nilotica, the original type of the genus. In his Pinax (1623), Gaspard Bauhin mentioned the Greek ἀκακία from Dioscorides as the origin of the Latin name.
Acacia maidenii, also known as Maiden's wattle, is a tree native to Australia. It has been introduced into India, and Argentina, and it grows on plantations in South Africa.
Acacia mearnsii, commonly known as black wattle, late black wattle or green wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is usually an erect tree with smooth bark, bipinnate leaves and spherical heads of fragrant pale yellow or cream-coloured flowers followed by black to reddish brown pods. In some other parts of the world, it is regarded as an invasive species.
Acacia confusa is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia. Some common names for it are acacia petit feuille, Ayangile, small Philippine acacia, Formosa acacia, Philippine Wattle, and Formosan koa. It grows to a height of 15 m. The tree has become very common in many tropical Pacific areas, including Hawaii, where the species is considered invasive.
Acacia decurrens, commonly known as black wattle or early green wattle, is a perennial tree or shrub native to eastern New South Wales, including Sydney, the Greater Blue Mountains Area, the Hunter Region, and south west to the Australian Capital Territory. It grows to a height of 2–15 m (7–50 ft) and it flowers from July to September.
Acacia falcata, commonly known as sickle wattle and by other vernacular names including sally, is a perennial shrub or tree native to eastern Australia, which reaches five metres in height and has cream flowers in early winter. It gets its common and scientific name for its sickle-shaped leaves. Hardy and adaptable to cultivation, it is used in regeneration of bushland.
Acacia floribunda is a perennial evergreen shrub or tree. It is a species of wattle native to New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, but is cultivated extensively, and has naturalised in South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, and also in Indonesia, Mauritius and northern New Zealand. Common names for it include gossamer wattle, weeping acacia and white sallow wattle. It grows up to 6m in height, but there is a commercial form available which only grows to about 1m tall. Its cream-colored flowers occur in the early Spring.
Acacia longifolia is a species of Acacia native to southeastern Australia, from the extreme southeast of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, eastern and southern Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. Common names for it include long-leaved wattle, acacia trinervis, aroma doble, golden wattle, coast wattle, sallow wattle and Sydney golden wattle. It is not listed as being a threatened species, and is considered invasive in Portugal, New Zealand and South Africa. In the southern region of Western Australia, it has become naturalised and has been classed as a weed by out-competing indigenous species. It is a tree that grows very quickly reaching 7–10 m in five to six years.
Acacia retinodes is an evergreen shrub that is native to South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. Short racemes of yellow flowers are produced periodically throughout the year. Some common names are Retinodes water wattle, swamp wattle, wirilda, ever-blooming wattle and silver wattle.
Albizia lebbeck is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar. It is widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions, including Australia. Common names in English include siris, Indian siris, East Indian walnut, Broome raintree, lebbeck, lebbek tree, frywood, koko and woman's tongue tree. The latter name is a play on the sound the seeds make as they rattle inside the pods. Siris is also a common name of the genus Albizia.
Inga edulis, known as ice-cream bean, ice-cream-bean, joaquiniquil, cuaniquil, guama or guaba, is a fruit native to South America. It is in the mimosoid tribe of the legume family Fabaceae. It is widely grown, especially by Indigenous Amazonians, for shade, food, timber, medicine, and production of the alcoholic beverage cachiri. It is popular in Peru, Ecuador, Pernambuco-Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. The taxonomic name Inga is derived from its name with the Tupí people of South America, while the species name edulis is Latin for "edible". The common name "ice-cream bean" alludes to the sweet flavor and smooth texture of the pulp.
Acacia binervia, commonly known as the coast myall, is a wattle native to New South Wales and Victoria. It can grow as a shrub or as a tree reaching 16 m in height. This plant is reportedly toxic to livestock as the foliage (phyllodes) contain a glucoside which can produce hydrogen cyanide if cut.
Acacia verticillata is a perennial shrub to small tree native to south eastern Australia.
Acacia myrtifolia, known colloquially as myrtle wattle, red stem wattle or red-stemmed wattle, is a species of Acacia native to coastal areas of southern and eastern Australia.
Dalbergia stevensonii, also called Honduras rosewood, is a Central American tree species in the legume family. It grows in broadleaf evergreen swamp forests in southern Belize and adjacent Guatemala and Mexico. The wood is highly valuable, which has led to population loss from illegal logging.