What Is Acacia? Things To Know About This Genus
ACACIA – In this topic, we will now know and discuss about a genus of shrubs and trees of the Fabaceae family called Acacia.
Also known as wattles or acacias, it is, as mentioned above, a huge genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the Fabaceae family. It is native to Africa and Australia.
Its common name “wattle” is said to be an Old Teutonic word which means “to weave”. Its Old English term watul was used to refer to the interwoven branches and sticks which formed fences, walls and roofs. The genus was first described from Africa in 1829.
The genus name was derived from the Greek word akis (ἄκις) which means “thorns”
Examples
- Mountain hickory wattle or Blackwood
- Species Name: A. penninervis
- A perennial shrub or tree native to Australia in which its bark is used by aboriginals to catch fish.
- Cootamundra wattle
- Species Name: A. baileyana
- A shrub/tree named after Frederick Manson Bailey. Nearly allo of its kind have cream to golden flowers
- Golden wattle
- Species Name: A. pycantha
- A tree native to southeastern Australia which grows to a height of 8 meters 26 feet and has phyllodes insted of actual leaves.
- Umbrella thorn
- Species Name: A. pycantha
- A species native to India and Sri Lanka. It has a thick greyish-brown bark with horizontal markings.
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