Acacia acuminata

Taxobox
name = Raspberry jam
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Fabales
familia = Fabaceae
genus = "Acacia"
species = "A. acuminata"
binomial = "Acacia acuminata"
binomial_authority = Benth.

Description

"Acacia acuminata", commonly known as raspberry jam or fine leaf jam, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. 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.

Raspberry jam grows as a tall shrub or small tree. In ideal conditions it may grow to a height of ten metres, but in most of its distribution it does not grow above five metres. As with most "Acacia" species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. These are 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.

Name origin

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.

Growing conditions

"Acacia acuminata" has high frost tolerance and medium salt tolerance. It requires at least 250mm/year (9.8in./year) average rainfall. [ [http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nreninf.nsf/LinkView/14160F3331145099CA256BCF000BBDCA5F35DFAFEA9EE75E4A256DEA00276C0F Dryland Area Species] ]

Uses

The wood is hard and durable, with an attractive, reddish, close grain. It has been used extensively for fence posts, [ [http://idrinfo.idrc.ca/archive/corpdocs/074940/chap1_e.html Qualities Required of Species for Agroforestry and Fuelwood] ] for ornamental articles, and for high-load applications such as sheave blocks. The wood's "air dried" density is 1040 kg/m³. [ [http://www.aussiefantom.com/Wood_Table.htm Aussie Fantom] ] It is also being used as a companion/host tree with Santalum spicatum plantations in the Wheatbelt region [ "Sandalwood Guide for Farmers - Forest Products Commission - April 2007 ]

Subspecies

*Acacia acuminata subsp. acuminata Benth.
*Acacia acuminata subsp. burkittii (Benth.)Kodela & Tindale [ [http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/show_species_details.php?record_id=583543 Catalog of Life] ]

References

Notes

General references

*APNI | name=Acacia acuminata Benth. | id = 3462
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* [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?767 USDA GRIN]

External links

* [http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=%22Acacia+acuminata%22&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=1 "Acacia acuminata" -- Google Images]