Difference between revisions of "Acacia acuminata"
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The lemon yellow flowers are held in tight cylindrical clusters about two centimetres long. The pods are light brown and flattened, about ten centimetres long and five millimetres wide. | The lemon yellow flowers are held in tight cylindrical clusters about two centimetres long. The pods are light brown and flattened, about ten centimetres long and five millimetres wide. | ||
− | + | Acacia acuminate comprises of two subspecies: | |
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+ | * '''A. acuminata''' (typical variant / broadleaf) , '''A. acuminata''' (narrow phyllode) | ||
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+ | * '''A. acuminata ''burkitti''''' (variant 2) | ||
== Geographic distribution == | == Geographic distribution == |
Revision as of 07:43, 8 February 2014
Contents
General Plant Info
Acacia acuminata, commonly known as the raspberry jam tree, fine leaf jam, "raspberry jam" or jam tree, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae.
The species name acuminata comes from the Latin acuminatus, which means pointed or elongated. This refers to the long point at the end of each leaf. The common name "raspberry jam" refers to the strong odour of freshly cut wood, which resembles raspberry jam.
As with most Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. These are plurinerved and bright green, around ten centimetres long and about two millimetres wide, and finish in a long point. The lemon yellow flowers are held in tight cylindrical clusters about two centimetres long. The pods are light brown and flattened, about ten centimetres long and five millimetres wide.
Acacia acuminate comprises of two subspecies:
- A. acuminata (typical variant / broadleaf) , A. acuminata (narrow phyllode)
- A. acuminata burkitti (variant 2)
Geographic distribution
Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs throughout the south west of the State. It is common in the Wheatbelt, and also extends into the semi-arid interior.
Identification
A. Acuminata (typical variant) grows as a tall shrub or tree. In ideal conditions it may grow to a height of 10 m, but in most distributions is 3-7 m tall. Plants in open sites away from competition tend to have wider and more rounded crowns (to about 8 m across) than those from within closely spaced (about 1–3 m apart), often monospecific, populations; branchlets ascending to erect or rarely pendulous to sub-pendulous; few-branched at ground level (2–6 main stems) or with a single, straight to almost straight bole 0.3–1.5 (–2) m long and 10–30 (–45) cm dbh; crowns dense, rounded to sub-rounded and up to 7–8 (–10) m across.
A. acuminata (narrow phyllode) grows as a small rounded tree 2-5 m tall and 1.5-4 m wide. In ideal conditions it may grow to a height of 6-7 m and spreading about 7 m wide. Plants in open sites away from competition tend to have more rounded crowns than those in dense populations; with 2–6 main stems arising from ground level, sometimes with a single bole up to 0.5 (–1) m long, the main stems rather straight, slender and ascending to erect; crowns dense to mid-dense, rounded to sub-rounded, spreading and occupying 20–40% of the total plant height.
A. acuminata burkitti (variant 2) grows as a small rounded tree 3-6 m tall, dividing at or up to 1 m above ground level into a few main stems.
Bark (all variants) is longitudinally fissured on main stems (especially near base), smooth on upper branches, and grey.
The unusual sap colouring is caused by carotene dissolved in oil held in wood pores.
Alkaloid content
Jeremy (EGA 2009) reported DMT primary alkaloid. Recent net lore indicates 0.6-1.2% alkaloid dimethyltryptamine in leaves, 0.6-1.5% bark, with some ß-carbolines.
Broad-leafed form gave 0.72% total alkaloid and narrow-leafed form gave 1.5% total alkaloid. Both collected Oct. White 1957 [1]
Other uses
The wood is hard and durable, with an attractive, reddish, close grain. It has been used extensively for fence posts,[2] for ornamental articles, and for high-load applications such as sheave blocks. The wood's "air dried" density is 1040 kg/m³.[3] It is also being used as a companion/host tree with sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) plantations in the Wheatbelt region [4]
Timber is widely used in wood turning due to the beautiful grain and aroma of raspberry jam for some time after cutting.
Extraction
Cultivation
Acacia acuminata is easily grown in most temperate areas. Has high frost and drought tolerance with medium salt tolerance. It is suited to a range of soils including limestone provided it is reasonably free draining.
Flowers best in full sun. It requires at least 250mm/year (9.8in./year) average rainfall.[5]
Suppliers
Links
- Template:APNI
- Template:Flora of Australia Online
- Template:FloraBase
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- USDA GRIN
References
A Biology of Acacias . T R New
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