Fabaceae FAMILY

Acacia ramulosa

Edibility

3/5

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[ 1295 Title Acacia in Australia: Ethnobotany and Potential Food Crop Publication Janick (ed.), Progress in new crops pp 228-236, (1996) ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA. Author Lister P.R.; Holford P.; Haigh T.; Morrison D.A. Website https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-toc.html Publisher ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA. Year 1996 ISBN 0-9615027-3-8 Description ]. Especially when harvesting from the wild, especial care should be taken to ensure correct identification of any plants harvested for food[ K Title Plants for a Future Author Ken Fern Description Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips. ]. 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.

Botanical Description

Acacia ramulosa is an erect to spreading, much-branched shrub or small tree with a dense, rounded crown; it can grow 2 - 4 metres tall, occasionally reaching 6 metres and is generally about as wide as it is tall. Older trees can become single-stemmed[ 1297 Title Wattles of the Kalannie region: their identification, characteristics and utilisation Publication Author Maslin B.R. Website http://worldwidewattle.com/ Publisher Year 1998 ISBN Description 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. ]. Although it produces true leaves as a seedling, like most members of this section of the genus, the mature plant does not have true leaves but has leaf-like flattened stems called phyllodes[ 286 Title Flora of Australia Publication Author Website http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food. It has been suggested as a potential commercial seed crop for areas such as Western Australia[ 1293 Title Domestication of wattles with edible seeds for the wheatbelt of Western Australia Publication Conservation Science W. Aust. 4 (3) : 170-180 (2002) Author McDonald M.W.; Maslin B.R.; Thomson L.A.J. Publisher Year 2002 ISBN Description ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeAustralia - New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, Western Australia

HabitatFound in a wide variety of habitats including rocky hills, sand or loam in Mulga communities or eucalypt woodland, or clay[ 1297 Title Wattles of the Kalannie region: their identification, characteristics and utilisation Publication Author Maslin B.R. Website http://worldwidewattle.com/ Publisher Year 1998 ISBN Description 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. ].