Acacia binervia

Coast Myall
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	A. binervia
Binomial name
Acacia binervia (J.C.Wendl.) J.F.Macbr.

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. ^[1] This plant is reportedly toxic to livestock as the foliage (phyllodes) contain a glucoside which can produce hydrogen cyanide if cut.^[1]

Taxonomy

German botanist Johann Christoph Wendland first described this species as Mimosa binervia in 1798,^[2] before American botanist James Francis Macbride reclassified it in the genus Acacia in 1919.^[3] Common names include coast myall and rosewood.^[3]

Description

Acacia binervia grows as a shrub to small tree anywhere from 2 to 16 m (7–50 ft) high. The bark is dark brown to grey in colour, and the elliptic to sickle-shaped (falcate) phyllodes are 6–15 cm (2.4–6 in) in length and 0.5–2.3 cm (0.2–1 in) wide. The cylindrical yellow flowers appear in spring (August to October).^[1] Flowering is followed by the development of 6–8 cm long seed pods, which are ripe by December.^[4]

Distribution and habitat

Acacia binervia is found in central New South Wales from the Hunter Valley south, and to Bungonia in the southwest, and continuing south into Victoria.^[1] In the Sydney basin, it grows on a variety of soils and associated plant communities—alluvial soils, sandstone-, shale- or trachyte-based soils, generally with good drainage. It grows in dry sclerophyll forest, associated with such species as yellow bloodwood (Corymbia eximia), grey gum (Eucalyptus punctata), narrow-leaved ironbark (E. crebra), mugga ironbark (E. sideroxylon), or more open woodland with narrow-leaved ironbark and black cypress pine (Callitris endlicheri), and riparian (riverbank) forest with river peppermint (E. elata) and gossamer wattle (Acacia floribunda).^[4]

Ecology

Acacia binervia regenerates from bushfire by a soil-borne seedbank, the seeds germinate and grow after fire while adult plants are killed. The frequency of fire for the cycle to persist is anywhere from 10 to 50 years.^[4] It is useful to bees in the honey industry.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} New South Wales Flora Online: Acacia binervia by P.G. Kodela, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia
2. ^ "Mimosa binervia J.C.Wendl.". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=19422. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Acacia binervia (J.C.Wendl.) J.F.Macbr.". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=4867. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1996). "Ecology of Sydney Plant Species Part 4: Dicotyledon family Fabaceae". Cunninghamia 4 (4): 552–752. ISSN 0727-9620. http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/57849/Cun4Ben552.pdf.