Acacia crassicarpa A. Cunningham ex Bentham, Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 7 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: northern wattle, Papua New Guinea red wattle

Maori (Cook Islands): ākasia

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A handsome tree of 30 to 40 ft. or more, glabrous and somewhat glaucous or hoary with a minute powdery pubescence. Branchlets scarcely angular. Phyllodia falcate-oblong, narrowed at both ends, 5 to 8 in. long, 1 to 2 in. broad, very oblique, some of the principal nerves confluent with the lower margin at the base, and numerous fine parallel veins between them, very rarely or not at all anastomosing. Spikes solitary or clustered, slender, not very dense, 1 in. long or rather more. Flowers mostly 5-merous. Calyx thin, sinuate-toothed, glabrous, about half as long as the corolla. Petals smooth but with the midrib prominent in the bud, united to the middle. Pod oblong, flat, thick, hard, obliquely veined, 2 to 3 in. long, 3/4 to nearly 1 in. broad, obliquely truncate at the base, occasionally slightly twisted. Seeds oblique, funicle not seen." (Bentham & Mueller, 1864; pp. 410-411).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia, New Guinea

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	‘Atiu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 6)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 6)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 6)
New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) New Guinea Island	New Guinea Island	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2008)
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

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)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2008)
Indonesia Indonesia	Irian Jaya (West Papua) (Indonesia) (western New Guinea Island)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

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

Additional information:
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database

Additional online information about Acacia crassicarpa is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Acacia crassicarpa as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Acacia crassicarpa may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2008. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Bentham, G./Mueller, F. 1864. (1967 reprint). Flora Australiensis: A description of the plants of the Australian Territory. Reeve & Co.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 146 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.