Acacia aulacocarpa
New Guinea wattle
New Guinea wattle
Common name: New Guinea wattle
Also, golden flowered salwood
Conservation status: unknown
Etymology:
x
Flowers:
It blooms between January and June
Fruit:
x
Leaves:
Like most Acacias it has phyllode s rather than true leaves
The phyllodes have a dimidiate to subfalcate shape and are 5 to 12 cm in length and 0.7 to 3.5 cm wide and are glaucous with a slight sheen
The phyllodes have numerous parallel longitudinal nerves
Stem & branches:
It tends to have a single stem but can have few branches near the base with a spreading crown
The majority of the bark is smooth but it is often cracked and fissured at the base of the taller trees
The acutely angled glabrous branchlets are slender to sub-stout
Roots:
x
Habit:
It grows as a shrub with a height of 0.5 to 2 m or as a small tree with a typical height of 2 to 8 m but can reach heights of up to 15 m
Habitat:
x
Distribution:
It is found in northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya and parts of Indonesia
Species:
World: S, G
Australia: S, G
Additional notes:
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1842 as part of William Jackson Hooker's work Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species as published in the London Journal of Botany
It was reclassified as Racosperma aulacocarpum by Leslie Pedley in 1987 then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006
Distribution
It occurs naturally east of the Great Dividing Range from northern Queensland to northern NSW
Despite the widespread distribution of the species it is not very common as populations tend to be locally restricted to run-off sites around rocky outcrops or along creek banks
It is quite uncommon in NSW and only found in the Grafton district
It is far more widespread in Queensland and has discontinuous distribution along the coast and adjacent tablelands of the Great Dividing Range from around Daintree in the north to south of Brisbane in the south
It grows in sandy soils as a part of sclerophyll forest or woodland communities on sandstone