Fabaceae FAMILY

Acacia melanoxylon

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

The wood is an important cause of allergic contact dermatitis in Australia. Quinones such as acamelin and hydroxyflavans such as melacacidin are responsible for the sensitizing activity. Occupational asthma caused by blackwood has also been reported in wood workers[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. 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 melanoxylon varies considerably in height from an evergreen shrub up to a large tree with a dense, pyramidal crown; it can grow from 6 - 45 metres tall. The straight, cylindrical bole can be up to 25 metres long, though it usually branches from near the ground; it can be up to 150cm in diameter and larger boles are often buttressed[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. , 303 Title World Agroforesty Centre Publication Author Website http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc. , 316 Title Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. Publication Author Chudnoff. Martin. Publisher USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. Year 1984 ISBN Description Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics. ]. Although it produces leaves as a seedling, llike most members of the genus the mature plant does not have true leaves but has leaf-like flattened stems called phyllodes[ 397 Title Australian Native Plants Society Publication Author Website http://anpsa.org.au/index.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc. ]. The tree produces a good quality, valuable wood, which is considered by some to be the most valuable of all Australian timbers. The tree is harvested from the wild and is also often cultivated in areas ranging from the warm temperate zone to higher elevations in the tropics[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. It is also grown as a pioneer species for restoring woodland and establishing woodland gardens, is an excellent soil stabilizer and is also often grown as an ornamental. Blackwood has been considered one of the most important invasive plant species in southern parts of South Africa. It does not aggressively invade closed evergreen forest, but outside the forest it is a serious invader of open and disturbed sites. Seed-feeding weevils of the genus Melanterius can be used as biological control and have been imported in South Africa from Australia for this purpose. For many years a policy of eradication was followed because the tree was perceived as a threat to the indigenous forest, but recent investigations support the opinion that it is gradually replaced by native species in indigenous forest[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate; tropical

Native RangeAustralia - New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria. Locally naturalized in S.W. Europe[ 50 Title Flora Europaea Publication Author ? Publisher Cambridge University Press Year 1964 ISBN - Description An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader. ].

HabitatWet forests on good soils up to the montane zone[ 152 Title Australian Medicinal Plants. Publication Author Lassak. E. V. and McCarthy. T. Publisher New Holland Publishers Year 2001 ISBN 1876334703 Description A very good and readable guide to the subject. , 154 Title Flora of Victoria. Publication Author Ewart. A. J. Publisher University Press; Melbourne Year 1930 ISBN Description A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project. ]. Usually an under-storey tree in Eucalyptus forests[ 167 Title A Field Guide to Australian Trees. Publication Author Holliday. I. and Hill. R. Publisher Frederick Muller Ltd. Year 1974 ISBN 0-85179-627-3 Description A well illustrated and very readable book, but it does not contain much information for the plant project. ]. Swamp forest, riverine rain forest and as understorey component of wet eucalypt forest[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].