Acacia melanoxylon
Common names
blackwood
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Cream, Yellow
Detailed description
Shrub or tree, twigs ribbed, glabrous to densely hairy. Leaves reduced to phyllodes, narrowly obovate up to 100 x 20 m, with 3-4 prominent veins. Bi-pinnate juvenile foliage may be present and individual leaves can have intermediate foliage with bipinnate foliage and a well developed phyllode. Inflorescence consists of many pale creamy yellow flowers in globbse heads, held singly or in racemes. Seed pod is glabrous, twisted or spiralled, 8-10 cm long (up to 4 cm diameter) and 5-8mm wide.
Similar taxa
Can be distinguished form other naturalised sp. by the large phyllodes and the pale creamy yellow flowers in globbose heads.
Habitat
Waste places, often coastal, especially near plantations.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Fabaceae
Ecology
Flowering
August, September, October, November
Year naturalised
1918
Origin
E. Australia, Tasmania
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
acacia: Derived from Greek ‘akazo’ to sharpen, meaning point; spine or thorn.
melanoxylon: Black wood
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ACAMEL