Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd.

  • Authority

    Isley, Duane. 1973. Leguminosae of the United States: I. Subfamily. Mimosoideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (1): 1-152.

  • Family

    Mimosaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd.

  • Description

    Species Description - Unarmed, evergreen shrub or tree to 10 m. Leaves simple, glabrous, elliptic to oblanceolate or linear-lanceolate, mucronulate, 4-15(-20) cm long, (.8-) 1-2(-3) cm wide, 5-10(-15) r, subcoriaceous, multinerved, usually with a sub-basal foliar gland. Flowers in sessile or pedunculate, dense to loose, yellow spikes usually paired from leaf axils. Legume linear, terete, moniliform, 5-8(-10) cm long, 3-5 mm wide, straight or curved; valves curving or twisting and persistent. Funiculus white or silvery, convoluted, terminally dilated.

  • Discussion

    A. latifolia Hort. CN 2n = 26 (Atchison, 1948; Tjio, 1948). Acacia longifolia represents a widely distributed complex in eastern Australia. My delimitation follows Tindale (in litt.) who recognizes as separate species in this region A. obtusifolia A. Cunn., A. floribunda (Vent.) Willd., A. longissima Wendl. and A. orites Pedley as well as A. longifolia. Acacia longifolia is possibly the most abundant acacia in California. It is grown as shrub or small tree, used for hedging, highway plantings, and as a soil-binder. Its uses and limitations are discussed by Jones (1933) and Riedel (1957). Riedel indicates that it has been commercially available for one hundred years but that it is usually sold as A. latifolia, a name encountered on some herbarium material. True A. latifolia Benth. is apparently not in the United States.

  • Distribution

    Urban California. Common as cultivated ornamental and occasionally escaped. (Jan.)Feb-March. Golden Wattle. Native of Australia.

    Australia Oceania|