Botanical art
Prior names
Acacia leprosa
Acacia emarginata
Mimosa stricta
Common names
Straight Wattle
Hop 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. Stricta from the Latin 'strictus' meaning drawn together, straight or erect; referring to its stiff upright habit pecies.
Distribution and status
Found in a small localised area in the South-east in South Australia between Millicent and Mount Gambier. Grows with Eucalyptus baxteri with heath understorey, often in damp areas. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, South Eastern
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Tall, erect, dull green, or slightly glaucous and sometimes viscid shrubs to 4 m high, with ascending, angular, striate branches with resinous ridges on the young branchlets. Leaves linear-lanceolate to narrow-linear or oblong to 12 cm long and 15 mm broad, flat, glabrous. Central vein prominent with numerous fine lateral veins, apex obtuse, blunt or with a short oblique point; glands near the base. Inflorescences axillary and twin, or in clusters up to 4 with globular, creamy-yellow flower-heads. Flowering between August and October Fruits are light brown, narrow-oblong, straight pod to 7 cm long and 5 mm wide, flattish, thin with margins not constricted. Seeds are hard, dark brown reniform seed to 5 mm long and 2.5 mm wide. Seed embryo type is investing.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between November and December. Collect mature pods that are turning brown, with hard, dark seeds inside. 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. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 90%. This species has physical dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking or softening the seed coat).
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BGA | 4,400 (34.62 g) | 12+ | 10-Dec-2009 | DJD1711 South Eastern | 1-Jun-2010 | 90% | -18°C |