Acacia aulacocarpa A. Cunningham ex Bentham, Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: New Guinea brown wattle, New Guinea wattle, black wattle, brown salwood, brush ironbark wattle, brush ironwood, golden-flower salwood, grey wattle, hickory wattle

Maori (Cook Islands): ākasia

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Shrub or tree up to 15 m tall; branchlets slender, angular, somewhat hoary and sometimes glutinous. Pulvinus 4-7 mm long; phyllodes straight or falcate, apex acute or subacute, 5-15 cm x 0.6-2.5 (-3) cm, 3-12 times as long as wide, glabrous, 1-3 prominent longitudinal nerves, somewhat crowded towards lower margin at base, and numerous, more or less parallel secondary nerves, not anastomosing; gland basal, prominent swelling and small orifice. Spikes single or in pairs at base of rudimentary axillary shoots, on scurfy peduncles 2-7 mm long; spikes usually at least moderately dense, 2-5.5 cm long; flowers 5-merous. Pods somewhat woody, prominently obliquely transversely veined, straight or twisted when old, up to 10 cm x 1-2 cm; glabrous; seeds transverse, ca 5.5 mm x 2.5 mm." (Stanley and Ross, 1983; vol. 1, p. 355).

Habitat/ecology:  "The main occurrence of A. aulacocarpa is in warm to hot humid and sub-humid zones of the tropics and subtropics, at the latitudinal range of 6-30°S, and it extends from near sea level in New Guinea up to about 1000 m altitude in Australia.  Mean annual rainfall ranges from 500-3000 mm with a monsoonal distribution.  The mean minimum temperature of the coolest month is 10-21°C and the mean maximum temperature of the hottest month is 29-38°C.  A. aulacocarpa is mainly a species of open forest and woodland, but with limited extension into rain forest.  It grows in a wide topographical range including undulating highlands, ridges, and steep rocky slopes, as well as on the flat and gently undulating terrain of coastal plains and foothills.  It is found frequently on yellow earth, red or yellow podzolics that are usually acid or very acid and of low fertility, and on sandy clay soils.  It tolerates a wide pH range"  (Hanum &Van der Maesen, 1997; p. 50).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia, New Guinea and Irian Jaya (Hanum & Van der Maesen, 1997; p. 49).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 6) Voucher: Flynn 7044 (PTBG, BISH, US)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2002) (voucher ID: PTBG 368) Taxon name on voucher: Acacia aulacocarpa
New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) New Guinea Island	New Guinea Island		U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2002) (voucher ID: PTBG 269) Taxon name on voucher: Acacia aulacocarpa

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2013)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2013)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2013)
Indonesia Indonesia	West Papua Province (Indonesia) (western New Guinea Island) (formerly Irian Jaya)	native	Hanum/I. Faridah/Van der Maesen, L.J.G, eds. (1997) (p. 49)

Comments:  Established in forestry plantations and spreading on Mangaia, Cook Islands (Space & Flynn, 2002).

Control:  If you know of control methods for Acacia aulacocarpa, please let us know.