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| Acacia dealbata Link |
Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle) is a species of Acacia, native to southeastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory.[1] It is a fast growing evergreen tree or shrub growing up to 30 m tall, typically a pioneer species after fire. The leaves are bipinnate, glaucous blue-green to silvery grey, 1–12 cm (occasionally to 17 cm) long and 1–11 cm broad, with 6–30 pairs of pinnae, each pinna divided into 10–68 pairs of leaflets; the leaflets are 0.7–6 mm long and 0.4–1 mm broad. The flowers are produced in large racemose inflorescences made up of numerous smaller globose bright yellow flowerheads of 13–42 individual flowers. The fruit is a flattened pod 2–11.5 cm long and 6–14 mm broad, containing several seeds.[2] Trees generally do not live longer than 30 to 40 years, after which they are replaced by other species. There are two subspecies:[1]
- Acacia dealbata subsp. dealbata. Low to moderate altitudes. Tree to 30 m; leaves mostly 5–12 cm long.
- Acacia dealbata subsp. subalpina Tindale & Kodela. High altitudes in the Snowy Mountains. Shrub to 5 m (rarely 10 m) tall; leaves mostly 1.5–8.5 cm long.
Cultivation and uses
Acacia dealbata is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in warm temperate regions of the world, and is naturalised in some areas, including southwestern Western Australia, southeastern South Australia, Norfolk Island, the Mediterranean region, and California.[2][3][4] It is a good furniture species, but with limited utilisation, mainly in craft furniture and turning. Beautiful, honey colour, often with distinctive figures like birdseye and tiger stripes. Medium weight (540–720 kg/m³). Glues satisfactorily, dresses well. Similar to Blackwood. It is the florist's "Mimosa". The flowers are also frequently given to women on International Women's Day. It has been analyzed as containing less than 0.02% alkaloids.[5]
References
- ^ a b Australian Plant Name Index: Acacia dealbata
- ^ a b Flora of Australia Online: Acacia dealbata
- ^ Flora Europaea: Acacia dealbata
- ^ Jepson Flora: Acacia dealbata
- ^ Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen By Robert Hegnauer
