Plants of
South Australia
Acacia rupicola
Fabaceae
Rock Wattle,
Balm Wattle
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
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Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 8

Common names

Rock Wattle

Balm Wattle

Etymology

Acacia from the Greek 'akakia' and derived from 'ake' or 'akis' meaning a sharp point or thorn and 'akazo' meaning to sharpen. Dioscorides, the Greek physician and botanist used the word in the 1st century AD for the Egyptian thorn tree, Acacia arabica. Rupicola from the Latin 'rupes' meaning rock and 'colo' meaning to inhabit, referring to the rocky habitat where the species is found.

Distribution and status

Found on southern Eyre Peninsula, Flinders Ranges, southern Yorke Peninsula, Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Murray (Monarto area) and the upper South-east, growing in rocky areas in woodland and forest, or in open scrub in near coastal areas; associated with sandy, alkaline yellow duplex, calcareous sands and hard alkaline red duplex soils. Also found in Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Victoria
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect to 2.5 m high; glabrous, rigid, prickly, somewhat diffuse viscid shrubs with a resinous odour. Leaves linear-lanceolate to narrowly triangular, broad and swollen at the base to 2.5 cm long and 2.5 mm wide. Inflorescences simple and axillary, solitary with globular, creamy yellow flower-heads. Flowering between August and November. Fruits are long brown curved pod to 7 cm long and 5 mm wide. Seeds are dark brown to black, oblong to elliptic seeds to 8 mm long and 4 mm wide. Seed embryo type is investing.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Collect mature pods that are turning brown, with hard, dark seeds inside. Be careful when collecting the pods, as plants are very prickly. Place the pods in a tray and leave to dry for 1-2 weeks or until the pods begin to split. Then rub the dried pods to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate any unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. This species has physical dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking or softening the seed coat).

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
3,800 (80 g)
3,800 (80 g)
60+10-Nov-2004MKJ48
Eyre Peninsula
31-Mar-2006 -18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.