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InnerPathsToOuterSpace

Acacia ID

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Hi there my fellow corroboree members,

I've been on a few bush walks of late and been trying to sharpen my acacia ID'ing skills. There is one particular acacia that has caught my eye in a few different spots close to my home. The first time I spotted it was in a conservation park and after I got home I found a council pdf that had the acacia species listed in that park which helped me narrow it down to what I think is acacia longissima. Here are some pics of the plant on location and a few small branch tips with phyllodes and flowers starting to bloom:

Suspected acacia longissima in habitat

Suspected acacia longissima

Unfortunately no seed pods to help ID but the thin, straight phyllodes with prominent central vein and creamy florescence match what I have read online about this particular species. I'm going to keep my eye on them for seed pods and would like to get some seeds at some point to try and cultivate this one along with my baby confusa as from what I have read it isn't a super common acacia and it has a few reports of tryptamine active phyllodes too.

Anyways, I would love to hear some opinions :)

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I'd agree with you in longissima, but a quick Q, do the leaves just have one main "vein"? (Couldn't see pics on ohone properly) We have a maidens wattle strain in flower here south of syd ATM with skinny leaves like this one but has 2-3 main veins on the leaf. Similar flower color also, possibly a bit less cream tho. Peace

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Yes, just one main vein down the centre then some other much smaller ones running parallel. I'm really waiting for seed pods to be completely sure for ID purposes. The ones I found in the conservation park I feel good about based purely on the information I found online in the council pdf about all the species documented in the park. That and the phyllodes and the flowering times match up too with what I found on worldwidewattle.com.

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A.longissima has seed pods before flowers.

Well not really, the fruits take nearly all year to form however, usually you'll find a few flower buds and ripe seed on a branch. At least a few other summer flowering Acacia sp behave similarly.

Edited by toby
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Cheers toby. I couldn't see any seed pods when I looked closely, maybe I should have checked the ground underneath the tree?

Anyways, I had a quick check on worldwidewattle again and it says it only fruits in November. The first time I came across the acacias I suspect of being longissima was just before xmas, should there have still been at least some old seed pods hanging off the branches and if so, does that mean I am looking at a different kind of acacia than I previously thought?

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I think it's longissima, fruit is quite insubstantial in comparison to some,doesn't really jump out if you're not looking, hangs there like the phyllodes then gone!

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Great, thanks again toby.

It certainly helps that the council pdf for the conservation park I originally found these in only listed 5 acacia species existing in the park and A.longissima is the only narrow phyllode variety out of the 5 species listed so it was easy to narrow it down. After being made aware of this species I have noticed more on separate bushwalks in my local area, they aren't super common but are easy to recognise once aware. Most tend to be fairly young though I found a few mature specimens (3-4 metres tall) out of the many younger ones. Also good that it apparently has a good alkaloid profile in the phyllodes from the few reports I found online, anything to stop ringbarking and eventual death of the more popular acacias that seems to be happening lately.

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