148
Racosperma
auriculiforme (Benth.) Pedley
Synonym : Acacia auriculiformis A.
Cunn. ex Benth.
Family
: Mimosoideae
Local Names
: Acacia, Darwin Black
Wattle, Ear Pod Wattle
Flowering
and fruiting period:
Throughout the year
Distribution: Native of Tropical Australia
Habitat: Grown as avenue tree, also raised in
plantations
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: No
Uses: Timber yielding, Tannin source, weed with
ability to outstrip any competition
Key
Characters:
Trees, to 15 m high, bark brown,
smooth. Phyllodes alternate; stipules lateral; petiole pulvinate, slender,
glabrous; lamina linear, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, yellow, in axillary
spike; calyx campanulate; lobes 5; corolla lobes 5, lobes lanceolate; stamens
many; ovary superior, subsessile, glabrous. Fruit a pod, flat, woody and much
twisted in irregular coils; seeds black, with orange-yellow coloured aril.