Acacia Dealbata 2 Now It Is Also That Time of Year Once Again, End of Financial Some Acacias from the Darling Downs 5 Year, When Subscriptions and Reports Are Due
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Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants ACACIA STUDY GROUP NEWSLETTER Group Leader Newsletter Editor Esther Brueggemeier Bill Aitchison 28 Staton Cr, Westlake, Vic 3337 13 Conos Court, Donvale, Vic 3111 Phone 0411 148874 Phone (03) 98723583 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] No. 101 June 2008 ISSN 1035-4638 I would like to say a big, warm 'Thank you' to all the support Contents Page and help from everyone in the Acacia Study Group over the past year. We never run out of material and there are many ideas yet to be implemented in future newsletters. Also a From the Leader 1 special thanks to Bill Aitchison who keeps everything up to Welcome 2 date and running smoothly, making sure I don’t forget anything in my hectic schedule and also for putting up with Boost for Acacia Research in Aust. 2 me. Old Study Group Newsletters 2 Feature Plant – Acacia dealbata 2 Now it is also that time of year once again, end of financial Some Acacias from the Darling Downs 5 year, when subscriptions and reports are due. Some Wattles and Tourism in Dalwallinu 5 members have paid for a number of years so they don’t need Acacia tumida and Chooks 6 to worry. Others will have the renewal notice sent to them Acacia retinodes 7 with this newsletter. To ensure prompt processing of Acacias and Allergies 8 renewals, please fill out all relevant details on your Wattles and Bushfires – A Case Study 10 subscription form. Note that receipts are not generally Wattle Day Association Activities 11 provided but may be requested to be sent with the next Wattle Day in Wangaratta 11 newsletter. The Acacia Name Change Debate 12 Books 12 Membership fees this year have increased a little which I’m Study Group Membership 13 sure everyone will understand. Our new fees are as follows: Email: $7 Hard copy: $10 O/seas hard copy: $20 From The Leader The financial report and fully updated seed list will be posted in the next newsletter. Dear Members, Once again, thank you for all the support and kind thoughts Out on the west side of Melbourne we have had a little rain that help to keep this study group running strong. and the suburbs have started to look greener again. A nice surprise for me this year is my Acacia cardiophylla being Cheers completely covered from top to toe in bright blossoms Esther Brueggemeier earlier than usual. Other wattles in my garden are heavy with bud and the gentle scent of winter with its icy temperatures and sunny blue skies is quite relaxing. Acacia Study Group Newsletter No. 101 Page 1 meters and develops a lovely straight stem with a Welcome wonderfully rounded crown. The bark is smooth grey, brown or rich dark brown to almost black and only becomes A special welcome to the following new members and corrugated at the base of old trunks with age. subscribers to the Newsletter: The name dealbata indirectly refers to the whitish Matt Cosgrove, Tamworth, NSW appearance of the branchlets and foliage. The leaves are Sam Frankel, Brunswick, Vic mostly bluish grey green or silvery with young foliage being Col and Joanne Wallace, Wilkesdale, Qld a soft velvety cream to golden colour. The flowers are Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, Heatherbrae, NSW highly perfumed ranging from yellow to bright yellow. Boost For Acacia Research in Australia Acacia research in Australia has been given a significant boost with the appointment of one of the world’s leading Acacia researchers, Dr Joe Miller, to a position where he will be in charge of the molecular systematics laboratory at the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra. Most recently, Dr Miller worked at the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Iowa. Dr Miller’s transfer to Australia is exciting news and we Acacia dealbata ssp. dealbata, Photo Russell Best extend our best wishes to him and his family in their move Acacia dealbata occurs on the Great Divide (mainly to Australia. tablelands and foothills) from the Ben Lomond Range in northern New South Wales to the Grampians in western Victoria; it is also common in eastern Tasmania and is Old Study Group Newsletters naturalized in parts of southwest Western Australia and southern South Australia. Acacia dealbata has been Following our request in the previous Newsletter for copies introduced into many countries including Chile, China, of old Newsletters that we are missing in the Study Group France (and other parts of southern Europe), Ethiopia, India, Archives, we extend our thanks to SGAP Queensland for Japan, Kenya, Nepal, New Zealand, North Africa, South providing copies of some that we did not have. Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Unfortunately many of these have become We are still missing the first 25 unnumbered newsletters, weed species due to their incredible suckering habit. and Newsletters 1 – 14, and 24. As a long lived, fast growing, vigorous species, Acacia dealbata copes extremely well in a range of topography If anyone can help with these missing newsletters, we from high plateaus to deep mountain valleys, often growing would be very grateful. on steep slopes, along stream banks and usually in dry sclerophyll forest or woodland. Soil types vary from deep, fertile forest soils, clays and gravelly clays of moderate Feature Plant – Acacia dealbata drainage to well-drained stony slopes, volcanic brown (Silver Wattle) earths and deep clay. Generally it is found at higher elevations than Acacia mearnsii and Acacia decurrens. by Esther Brueggemeier Taxonomy Acacia dealbata comprises two subspecies. That is Distribution and Habit subspecies dealbata and subspecies subalpina. Subspecies Acacia dealbata is a bushy shrub or beautiful tree that can subalpina is generally distinguished by its smaller leaves be utilised in many ways. Generally it grows from 2 to 15 and smaller stature and often brighter yellow flower-heads meters and can be multi-stemmed although in wetter climate with fewer flowers. Subspecies subalpina occurs mainly at forests and along watercourses it reaches an amazing 30 higher altitudes and is common on the Snowy Mountains. Acacia Study Group Newsletter No. 101 Page 2 According to the world wide wattle website, “Intermediates 'nurse crop' for use with slow growing eucalypts or other between them are common in areas where subsp. dealbata long-lived species in mixed woodlots. occupies the lower mountain slopes and subsp. subalpina Wildlife dependence on Acacia dealbata is considerably the upper slopes. (See the table at end of article) Acacia high. Many marsupials depend on the silver wattle for its dealbata can also hybridise with Acacia decurrens, A, winter carbohydrates including the Leadbeater's possum, the baileyana, A. pataczekii, A. mearnsii and A. podalyriifolia. sugar glider, the squirrel glider, the mahogany glider and the Particularly in European gardens there have been some yellow-bellied glider. According to Smith & Lindenmayer interesting hybrids. One popular variety has been described (1992) the Acacia gum contributes up to 80% of the as Acacia x hanburyana. Leadbeater's possum's daily energy requirements. Acacia The most closely related species seem to be Acacia nano- dealbata is a valuable source of pollen for insects and bees. dealbata (dwarf silver wattle) and Acacia decurrens (green The young trees are also host to the 'Imperial Blue Butterfly' wattle/early black wattle) with the most obvious difference caterpillar. being the colour of the leaves, dark green rather than grey Aborigines had many uses for Acacia dealbata. The wood green. was used for making boomerangs and axe handles. Gum Amongst these species there is also a lush prostrate cultivar, was for food, including medicinal purposes and also used 'Kambah Karpet'. This selection was made in 1982 from a as an adhesive. The European settlers quickly learned from mature plant growing in a garden bed near the Health the knowledge of the indigenous people to use bark Centre in the Canberra suburb of Kambah by Mr. R.B. infusions in hot water as a remedy for indigestion and Hadlow of the staff of the Australian Botanic Gardens. dissolve the gum in boiling milk to take for dysentery and diarrhoea, with good results. In southern Europe Acacia dealbata is known as 'mimosa' and used commercially in the cut flower trade. The flowers are particularly valued in France for the production of perfume as the extract is recognised as a blender and 'smoothing agent' in high grade perfume. Acacia dealbata is now used as excellent fine timber for furniture designers and manufacturers. The wood varies in colour from light brown to subtle pink with distinctive growth rings, creating an appealing stripped pattern when backsawn. The wood is fairly tough, available in both solid and veneer. When planed and dressed, it produces a very smooth surface for furniture and polishes beautifully. As one of the softer hardwoods that glues and pulps well it is also used as good quality pulpwood in Tasmania producing high grade paper and paperboard products. A low growing form of A. dealbata, at Maranoa Garden, The silver wattle is an excellent fire retardant and studies Melbourne, Photo Bill Aitchison are continuing in this field. (See also n/l 100, Wattles and Bushfires by Alan Gray). Cultivation Notes Utilisation Acacia dealbata tolerates a wide range of soil types and Acacia dealbata is used in controlling soil erosion because frosty conditions making it a much loved fast growing of its excellent drought tolerant and root suckering specimen tree. This species grows best in cool climates but properties. It has been used extensively for hillside is also drought resistant regenerating easily from seed or stabilisation, gully erosion control and for windbreaks.