Acacia falcata

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Sickle wattle
Acacia falcata5.JPG
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. falcata
Binomial name
Acacia falcata
Acacia-falcata-range-map.png
Range of Acacia falcata
Synonyms
Distribution map of Acacia falcata Acacia falcataDistMap347.png
Distribution map of Acacia falcata

Acacia falcata, commonly known as sickle wattle and by other vernacular names including sally, [2] 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.

Contents

Taxonomy

German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow was the first to officially describe the sickle wattle in 1806, [3] although his countryman Johann Christoph Wendland had given it the name Mimosa obliqua in 1798, this was deemed an illegitimate name. [4] The species name is derived from the Latin word falx "sickle". Some common names for it are burra, sally, sickle-shaped acacia and silver-leaved wattle. [1]

Description

Found as a shrub or small tree from 2 to 5 m (6.6 to 16.4 ft) high, Acacia falcata has grey or black bark. Like most wattles it has phyllodes rather than leaves. These are a pale green or grey-green and sickle-shaped, measuring 7–19 cm (2.8–7.5 in) in length, by 0.9–4 cm (0.35–1.57 in) wide with a prominent mid vein. The small round flowers are cream or pale-yellow and appear in early winter from April to August. These are followed by thin seed pods which are 4.5–12 cm (1.8–4.7 in) long and 0.5–0.8 cm (0.20–0.31 in) wide. [5] The pods mature from September to December. [6]

Distribution and habitat

The range is from Queensland south through eastern New South Wales to Bermagui on the south coast. [5] It grows predominantly on shale soils in open forest, [7] and is associated with such trees as Eucalyptus paniculata , E. longifolia and E. tereticornis . [8] Naturalised, it has been recorded in Java, Indonesia, and in North Island, New Zealand. [1]

Ecology

Plants live for five to twenty years in the wild, and are killed by bushfire. The seed is released in December, and dispersed by wind. It is stored in the soil, although it is unclear how related germination is to bushfire. Seed can germinate in disturbed areas. [8]

Acacia falcata is the host plant for the imperial hairstreak ( Jalmenus evagoras ). [9] One field study recovered 98 species of bug (Hemiptera) from A. falcata across its range. [10]

Cultivation and uses

Acacia falcata is adaptable to a wide range of soils in cultivation, and its attractive foliage is a horticultural feature. [6] It is propagated by seed which must be pretreated with boiling water before it is able to germinate. It is easy to grow given a good sunlit position and good drainage, and is used in revegetation. [11]

Australian indigenous people use the bark to make a liniment for treating ailments of the skin. [12] A. falcata is excellent for stabilizing barren sand. The bark is important in the tanning industry. [13]

The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that common names included 'hickory' and 'sally' and that Indigenous Australians of the Cumberland and Camden areas of New South Wales referred to it as "Weetjellan". It also notes that "This bark, which contains much tannin, was used by the Aboriginals [sic.] of the counties of Cumberland and Camden to stupefy fish, and to make embrocations for the cure of cutaneous diseases." [14]


Related Research Articles

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

Acacia cultriformis, known as the knife-leaf wattle, dogtooth wattle, half-moon wattle or golden-glow wattle, is a perennial tree or shrub of the genus Acacia native to Australia. It is widely cultivated, and has been found to have naturalised in Asia, Africa, North America, New Zealand and South America. A. cultriformis grows to a height of about 4 m (13 ft) and has triangle-shaped phyllodes. The yellow flowers appear from August to November in its natural range. Its attractive foliage and bright flowers make it a popular garden plant.

<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>Vachellia farnesiana</i> Species of plant

Vachellia farnesiana, also known as Acacia farnesiana, and previously Mimosa farnesiana, commonly known as sweet acacia, huisache, or needle bush, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its flowers are used in the perfume industry.

<i>Acacia</i> Genus of plants

Acacia, commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about 1,084 species of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Australasia, but is now be reserved for species mainly from Australia, with others from New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean. The genus name is Neo-Latin, borrowed from the Greek ἀκακία, a term used in antiquity to describe a preparation extracted from Vachellia nilotica, the original type species.

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

Acacia implexa, commonly known as lightwood or hickory wattle, is a fast-growing Australian tree, the timber of which is used for furniture making. The wood is prized for its finish and strength. The foliage was used to make pulp and dye cloth.

<i>Acacia dealbata</i> Species of flowering plant

Acacia dealbata, the silver wattle, blue wattle or mimosa, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, native to southeastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory, and widely introduced in Mediterranean, warm temperate, and highland tropical landscapes.

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

Acacia parramattensis, commonly known as Parramatta wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae native to the Blue Mountains and surrounding regions of New South Wales. It is a tall shrub or tree to about 15 m (49 ft) in height with phyllodes instead of true leaves. These are finely divided bipinnate. The yellow flowers appear over summer. It generally grows in woodland or dry sclerophyll forest on alluvial or shale-based soils, generally with some clay content.

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

Acacia salicina is a thornless species of Acacia tree native to Australia.

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

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 southwest to the Australian Capital Territory. It grows to a height of 2–15 m (7–50 ft) and it flowers from July to September.

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

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, southeastern South Australia, and Tasmania. 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.

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

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. Common names include black wattle, hickory wattle, mangium, and forest mangrove. Its uses include environmental management and wood.

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

Acacia elata, the cedar wattle or mountain cedar wattle, is a tree found in eastern Australia.

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

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.

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

Acacia verticillata is a perennial shrub to small tree native to south eastern Australia.

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

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.

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

Acacia pubescens, also known as the downy wattle, is a species of wattle found in the Sydney Basin in eastern New South Wales. The downy wattle is classified as vulnerable; much of its habitat has vanished with the growth of the city of Sydney. As with all wattles, it has compound (pinnate) leaf stems.

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

Acacia linifolia, known colloquially as white wattle, or flax wattle, is a species of Acacia native to eastern Australia.

<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 ulicifolia</i> Species of legume

Acacia ulicifolia, commonly known as prickly Moses or juniper wattle is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae, native to Australia.

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

Acacia praetermissa is a species of wattle native to a small area in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was listed as vulnerable in 2006 according to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Acacia falcata". ILDIS LegumeWeb. International Legume Database & Information Service. 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  2. A sallow is a shrubby willow ( OED ).
  3. "Acacia falcata Willd". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  4. "Mimosa obliqua J.C.Wendl". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  5. 1 2 PG Kodela. "New South Wales Flora Online: Acacia falcata". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.
  6. 1 2 Elliot, Rodger W.; Jones, David L.; Blake, Trevor (1985). Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation. Vol. 2. Port Melbourne: Lothian Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN   978-0-85091-143-5.
  7. Fairley A, Moore P (2000). Native Plants of the Sydney District: An Identification Guide (2nd ed.). Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press. p. 128. ISBN   978-0-7318-1031-4.
  8. 1 2 Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1996). "Ecology of Sydney Plant Species Part 4: Dicotyledon family Fabaceae" (PDF). Cunninghamia. 4 (4): 552–752. ISSN   0727-9620. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  9. A. Wells; W. W. K. Houston (2001). Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. p. 264. ISBN   978-0-643-06700-4.
  10. Andrew, Nigel R.; Hughes, Lesley (2005). "Diversity and assemblage structure of phytophagous Hemiptera along a latitudinal gradient: predicting the potential impacts of climate change" (PDF). Global Ecology and Biogeography. 14 (3): 249–62. doi:10.1111/j.1466-822x.2005.00149.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-02.
  11. Wrigley, John; Fagg, Murray (1996). "Acacia falcata". Canberra, ACT: Australian National Botanic Gardens. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  12. Robinson, Les (1993). "Aboriginal Uses of Plants Around Sydney". Archived from the original on August 30, 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  13. Ferdinand von Mueller (1884). Select Extra-tropical Plants Readily Eligible for Industrial Culture Or Naturalization: with indications of their native countries and some of their uses. G.S. Davis. p.  5. acacia falcata uses.
  14. J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.