BLACKWOOD WATTLE

Acacia melanoxylon (Australian blackwood, black wattle, blackwood wattle, mudgerabah), is a tree up to 20 m high, with a bole of about 150 cm in diameter. The bark on older trunks is dark greyish-black in colour, deeply fissured and somewhat scaly. Younger branches are ribbed, angular, or flattened towards their tips and are greenish in colour. These branchlets are usually mostly hairless (glabrous or glabrescent), but the stems of younger plants are sometimes more obviously hairy (densely pubescent).

The pale yellow, cream or whitish coloured flowers are fluffy in appearance due to the presence of numerous stamens. They are densely arranged into small rounded clusters (5-10 mm across), each containing numerous (30-56) flowers. Each individual flower in this cluster is stalkless (sessile) and has five relatively inconspicuous petals and sepals. The flower clusters are borne on stalks (peduncles) 5-14 mm long and are alternately arranged on a short branch (6-40 mm long) emanating from a 'leaf' fork (phyllode axil). These compound flower clusters (axillary racemes) generally contain only 2-8 of the small globular flower clusters. Flowering can occur throughout the year.

Acacia melanoxylon is cultivated in forestry plantings as it is used for lumber, fuelwood and also in amenity plantings. The wood is used for light construction, tool handles, turnery and fence posts. It is used as a nurse tree in the rehabilitation of disturbed natural forests.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.