Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd., Fabaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 10 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: golden wattle, long-leaved wattle, sallow wattle, Sydney golden wattle

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Shrub, small tree 3-7 m, unarmed.  Stems:  twig angled, glabrous or minutely hairy when young.  Leaf simple, 5-15 cm, linear-lanceolate or obovate; 2-3 longitudinal veins more prominent than others.  Inflorescence: spike 2-4 cm, axillary, less than leaf.  Flowers bright yellow.  Fruit 5-10 cm, more or less straight, more or less cylindric, narrowed between seeds, ending in a curved beak, brown.  Seed: stalk short, aril thick, cup-shaped"  (Hickman, 1993).

"A spreading and unarmed shrub or small tree, 2-10 m tall, with a smooth and grey bark, and with bright green, flat phyllodes instead of leaves.  Phyllodes are linear-lanceolate to obovate, 8-20 cm long and 1-2.5 cm wide, and have 2-5 prominent longitudinal veins.  Bright yellow flowers appear in axillary, cylindrical flowerheads of 2-5 cm length and c. 7 mm width.  Fruits are pale brown pods of 5-15 cm length and 3-6 mm width, more or less straight and cylindric, and constricted between seeds.  Each contains 6-8 seeds having a thick aril"  (Weber, 2003; p. 15).

Habitat/ecology:  "Disturbed places, especially sandy, coastal areas; up to 150 m" (Hickman, 1993). "Riparian habitats, woodland, grassland, coastal dunes and scrub"  (Weber, 2003; p. 15).

Propagation:  Seed. Large quantities of seed accumulate in the soil and may remain dormant for many years (Weber, 2003; p. 15).

Native range:  Eastern Australia

Presence:

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 (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Owen, S. J. (1997)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 706) "Waste land, scrubland, especially coastal areas".

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)

Comments:  Also reported invasive in South Africa (Henderson, 1995), Israel (Owen, 1997), Portugal (Hugo Bezerra, communications to Aliens listserver).

Control:  Pull or dig out small plants or treat with herbicide. Cut large trees since they do not sprout. Follow up to remove new seedlings (Weber, 2003; p. 15).

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

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

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

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. 2001. Plant invaders. Earthscan Publications, Ltd., London. 241 pp.

Henderson, Lesley. 1995. Plant invaders of Southern Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 5, Agriculture Research Council, ARC/LNR, Pretoria, South Africa. 177 pp.

Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson manual: higher plants of California. U. Cal. Press, Berkeley. 1400 pp.

Hitchcock, A. S. 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States, second edition (1971 reprint). New York, Dover Publications. 1052 pp. (two volumes).

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2011. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Owen, S. J. 1997. Ecological weeds on conservation land in New Zealand: A database. Working draft. Wellington, New Zealand. Department of Conservation.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.