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Acacia victoriae
Fabaceae FAMILY

Acacia victoriae

Acacia victoriae

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The seed of many Acacia species, including this one, is edible and highly nutritious, and can be eaten safely as a fairly major part of the diet. Not all species are edible, however, and some can contain moderate levels of toxins[1]. Especially when harvesting from the wild, especial care should be taken to ensure correct identification of any plants harvested for food[PFAF]. Especially in times of drought, many Acacia species can concentrate high levels of the toxin Hydrogen cyanide in their foliage, making them dangerous for herbivores to eat.

Cultivation Details

HabitShrub
GrowthFast

A plant of the arid and semi-arid warm temperate to tropical areas of Australia, where it is found at elevations up to 750 metres[2]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 12 - 32°c, but can tolerate 5 - 38°c[2]. Mature plants can be killed by temperatures of -10°c or lower, though young growth is more sensitive and can be killed at -1°c[2]. The plant prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 300 - 800mm, but tolerates 100 - 1,000mm[2]. Grows best in a sunny position[2]. Succeeds in most soils, being able to tolerate occasional short-term inundation[2]. Tolerant of saline soils[3]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7.5, tolerating 5 - 8.5[2]. Established plants are very drought tolerant[2]. The plant is an ornamental species suited to growing in arid and semi-arid areas, yet adaptable to cooler moist climates[4]. Acacia victoriae is an easily harvested species. The pods are held on the extremities of the branches and once fully mature, a gust of wind is sufficient to remove them. The pods may be shed unopened or may open on the plant with the seeds still attached by the funicle. Pods can be collected by manually shaking or gently beating the branches and collecting them on a ground sheet. The seeds separate from the pods with minimal mechanical processing. The plant bears uniformly heavy seed crops and is one of the few acacias whose seed can be collected from the ground[4]. The plant responds very well to coppicing, and also produces suckers[2, 3]. Trees are fast-growing[3], but relatively short-lived, with a probable lifespan of 10 - 15 years[2]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[5].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a sunny position in a warm greenhouse[6].The dried seed of most, if not all, members of this genus has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing to speed up germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Sow the seed in Spring in a greenhouse. As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots and grow them on in a sunny position in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts, and consider giving them some protection from the cold for their first winter outdoors. Acacia seeds that have matured fully on the bush and have been properly dried have a hard seed coat and can be stored in closed containers without deterioration for 5 - 10 years or more in dry conditions at ambient temperatures. It is best to remove the aril, which attracts weevils and can lead to moulds forming. The arils are easilyremoved by placing the seeds in water and rubbing them between the hands, then drying the seeds and winnowing them[7]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Acacia+victoriae>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Acacia in Australia: Ethnobotany and Potential Food Crop — Lister P.R.; Holford P.; Haigh T.; Morrison D.A. · ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA. · 1996 · https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-toc.html · ISBN 0-9615027-3-8 ↩︎
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]Acacia species as large-scale crop plants in theWestern Australian wheatbelt — Bartle J.; Cooper D.; Olsen G.; Carslake J. · 2002 · https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283798072 ↩︎
  4. [4]Wattles of the Kalannie region: their identification, characteristics and utilisation — Maslin B.R. · 1998 · http://worldwidewattle.com/ ↩︎Produced on a CDROM, a database of Acacias growing in a region of Western Australia. Fact sheets for individual species can be downloaded from the Internet.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  7. [7]Potential of Australian Acacias in combating hunger in semi-arid lands — Rinaudo A.; Patel P.; Thomson L.A.J. · 2002 ↩︎
  8. [8]Flora of Australia — http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/ ↩︎The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.
  9. [9]Australian Native Plants Society — http://anpsa.org.au/index.html ↩︎A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc.
  10. [10]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  11. [11]Native Tastes of Australia — http://tasteaustralia.biz/ ↩︎A website with detailed information on around 50 species of native Australian food plants, including recipes.
  12. [12]The Useful Native Plants of Australia. — Maiden J.H. · Turner & Co.; London. · 1889 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Terse details of the uses of many Australian plants and other species naturalised, or at least growing, in Australia. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  13. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎