Acacia saligna (Labillardière) H. L. Wendland, Fabaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 17 (Go to the risk assessment).

Other Latin names:  Acacia cyanophylla Lindl.; Mimosa saligna Labill.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blue-leaf wattle, golden-wreath wattle, orange wattle, Port Jackson wattle, Port Jackson-willow, weeping wattle

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Bushy shrub or tree mostly 2-6 m high. Bark grey. Branchlets often pendulous, normally slightly flexuose, often pruinose (especially when young), glabrous. Phyllodes often pendulous, variable in shape and size, linear to lanceolate, straight to falcate, 7-25 cm long, (2-) 4-20 mm wide, often larger towards base of plant, green to glaucous, glabrous, with prominent midrib, finely penninerved (absent on very narrow phyllodes); gland ± disciform, 1-2 mm wide, 0-3 mm above pulvinus; pulvinus mostly 1-2 mm long, coarsely wrinkled. Inflorescences mostly 2-10-headed racemes, enclosed when young by imbricate bracts, with bract scars evident at anthesis; raceme axes mostly 3-30 mm long, glabrous; peduncles 5-15 mm long, glabrous; heads globular, mostly 7-10 mm in diameter at anthesis and 25-55-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals c. 4/5-united. Pods linear, flat, shallowly constricted between seeds, 8-12 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, thinly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to slightly elliptic, 5-6 mm long, shiny, dark brown to black; aril clavate"  (Flora of Australia online).

Habitat/ecology:  In its native range (Australia), "grows in a variety of habitats, including poor sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain, clayey soil around Geraldton, the sandplains north of Gingin, the Darling Range and the Great Southern region (where it is ± restricted to creeks and rivers), deep sands associated with watercourses (e.g. south coast of Western Australia), the base of granite boulders in the wheatbelt, and in coastal dune systems (often forming dense thickets in the hollows between sand hills)"  (Flora of Australia online). "Acacia saligna grows mainly on sandy, coastal plains, but it is also found in a wide variety of environments, from swampy sites and river banks to small, rocky hills (often granitic) and slopes of coastal ranges. It is also found by creeks and disturbed roadsides. The plant tolerates salt spray, soil salinity and alkalinity. The associated vegetation types include open, dry evergreen forest, temperate woodland and semi-arid woodland".  (Agroforestree Database).  "A very adaptable and aggressive species which has become naturalised on coastal sand dunes where it was planted for dune rehabilitation, along major highways were it was included in revegetation plantings, and as a garden escape into open forests, particularly where disturbance has occurred"  (PlantNET:  New South Wales Flora Online).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southern and southwestern Western Australia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011)

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)	Australia (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Southern and southwestern Western Australia
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011) Naturalised
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011) Naturalized
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

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

Additional information:
Profile from the Global Invasive Species Database.
Fact sheet from Florabank.
Information from James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops.
Information from Weeds Australia.
Information from World Wide Wattle (PDF format).

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

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

Taxonomic information about Acacia saligna 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.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

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

International Center for Research in Agroforestry. 2008. AgroForestryTree database: a tree species reference and selection guide (online resource). World Agroforestry Centre.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

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

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.