Acacia ID needed

[Chiral]

Whilst out collecting seed today I came across 2 different Acacia..the light green coloured one had not flowered yet but was looking like it might soon. Its Phylodes where waxy and stiffish.

The dark green one had allready flowered and had a lot of seed avavilable so i collected some and its Phylodes where matte and softer.

Any here good with acacia..my guess is that the dark green is floribunda or Longifolia and the light green may be Obtusifolia or Simplifolia..or am I way off...?

the first 6 pics running left to right are the light green.

anyone.

H.

Edited November 6, 2008 by Hunab Ku

[volcanicplug]

hey HK, to me all those pics you have taken look like the same species.....the lighter coloured leaves might just be fresher growth.....

did you find these plants near the coastline?.....they look to me like Acacia sophorae or coastal wattle....this species is sometimes considered a subspecies of longifolia to which it is closely related.....

hope this helps

[Chiral]

They are 2 different plants from 2 different areas..the first 6 pics is a tree that is growing on some wasteland behind a bus depot and the last few pics are a quite massive tree that is growing in the front of an old abandoned factory in an industrial estate near where I live. I can't see how they would be Sophrae when they have trunks about 12'thick and are are quite tall..? the lightercoloured one has a very distinct pungent smell on the stem where I removed the branch and the other had no smell at all.

One allready has been in the flower..the darker one and the other with redish tinge on stems is about to flower...so how can they be the same..?

H.

[t st tantra]

flowers.....we need to see flowers!

t s t .

[Chiral]

I'll watch the one that's about to flower closely and will take pics when it does. The other one the last 4pics has allready flowered so not much I can do about that. I have collected seed though so I'd like an ID so as I can label the seed appropriately.

thanks

H.

[Plantsoma]

I think you're looking at longifolia or var sophorae as previously mentioned.

You gotta stop guessing dude and get an ID book and learn some basics.

[Chiral]

so I'm not allowed to ask here to see if anyone can ID for me ....?

Can you send me your ID book to borrow please.

H.

[shruman]

Of course u can ask here, lot better than cutting down wrong trees.

http://www.worldwidewattle.com/speciesgall...ia.php?id=23759

"the margins uneven and edged with microscopic granular resin globules"

Probly the most helpful piece of info.

Study that site, there are more like it too. & please read up on here about ethical harvesting.

[Chiral]

Thanks Shruman now that's a good reply..

And for all you folks out there..I never harvest..I sample as in remove branches for ID and I collect seed only.

I want to grow my own and look after them my way. I have never gone ou tand injured any plants anywhere whats so ever..in fact if a bus was about to hit a geezer and he had a potted cactus in his arms I'd reachin to save the cactus before' im.

H

[MORG]

Location data would be good too. This is very useful for IDing Acacias (or anything really).

If I recall correctly you're reasonably close to the coast in Syd region. Therefore your chances of finding wild-growing (or council planted for that matter) A. obtusifolia locally are vanishingly small.

Head to the hills.

Edited November 8, 2008 by MORG

[Plantsoma]

so I'm not allowed to ask here to see if anyone can ID for me ....?

Can you send me your ID book to borrow please.

H.

Of course you're allowed to ask for an ID here. But back in the days before the internet, one would have to do a bit of their own research rather than just asking for specific ID's without evidently even studying a basic botany book.

Dude, their is a wealth of information on the internet and i think it would benefit your knowledge base to do a bit or background reseach so you have a bit of an idea of the anatomy of plants at least. Members here are always willing to help, but you'll find if you do as much research as you can before posting, you will probably get a lot more specific information if the obvious basic knowledge is known already.

Can you send me your ID book to borrow please.

If you're willing to spend the time and petrol/transport costs looking for these plants, i don't see why spending $15-20 on your own ID book would be unreasonable. You really should own at least one already.

I mentioned this book in another thread to someone else, the best book i think would benefit you is:

Native Plants of the Sydney District- Fairley A. & Moore P. 1995 Kangaroo Press

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Native-Plants-Sydn...n/dp/0864172613

I can't find it available on amazon in Australia, but a lot of bookstores will have it or order it for you. A lot of librarys in the region have copies too. There is a paperback as well as hardcover.

It has all the basic botany key information right up to detailed species information. Its also reasonably priced.

You will learn a lot from this book and you can take it in the field with you.

[Chiral]

Thanks but I am unemployed have a small child and wife to consider and have no means of transport other than a pushbike. Sometimes one just wants a quick answer and move on...I agree it would be nice to own some of these books but the cost of such literature is what I spend on food for us to live on. I have to be very wise with my dollars now that I can't work anymore..Cancer op..so my garden and pushy are my healers. The info on the net is potentially there but have you noticed the hrs you have to rack up looking for such info, sometimes its mind boggling. If you don't have a UNI degree or a history in Hort and botany most of the terminolgy flys straight over my head I have to look up the meanings to every second word when I'm reading about things like margins and laterals anastomosing..So just be patient with us dumb ass's we will get there eventually only have to do it all on our own the long way.

I was kicked outta home when I was 15 ..my old man smashed my crappy guitar over my head one day when he came home pissed cause I was doin charcoal sketches in my room while listenin to sex pistols..he lost it and thrashed me one last hard time...I didn't even get my school cert..I had to live in a church and work a milk run after school to stay alive and thats how its allways bin for me..I'm not bitter it makes for a very interesting life and deep learning curve..I've had to teach myself everything from books, friends, experience etc..I've learned electronics, music writing and production, RF, satelite installation, Audio and computer science all through having to read and find the info myself. I have worked as landscaper labourer in the past and have grown some truly magnificent crops when I had a hut in the forest. So now I will learn Hort' and Botany through books and the net ..I'll be here buggin people with questions as I need to..how else will I learn..yes I will use the search engine now I know how it works..So I have myself a decent camera and a pushy I make a decent effort to capture a species with photo's and relay them here..don't forget other newbies who are lurking will read this stuff so they don't have to ask..I'll make all the usual mistakes like others before me I guess..I understand now the tone of this house and respect its doctrine.

thanks

H.

[Plantsoma]

Sorry to hear of your story, sounds like a tough life.

I'm glad you've found plants as healers, mentally and physically.

Keep up the reading about botany and horticulture, we were all where you were at one stage. In my experience the learning process is healing in itself.

While you can't afford books, the net is still a great resource and i'm sure all here will lead you in the right direction wherever possible.

Edited November 9, 2008 by Plantsoma

[Chiral]

Thanks ..that means a lot.

peace.

H.

[Vertmorpheus]

I have a heap of TAFE horticulture handouts and books, could probably send you what I have doubles (or triples ) of. Maybe even a (drum roll) deficiency chart...ooo.... charty!

Otherwise drop into the library of your local TAFE or tech, if they offer horticulture (or even used to recently), browse their library... photocopiers usually work on a prepaid magnetic key system and are bloody tedious anyway, I see you have a digicam... get all James Bond and use it to capture anything critical you can't be arsed rewriting or committing to memory just yet. Handy for say particular sections of ID books, distinguishing feature silhouettes etc... good basic stuff. Even a 3mp will do text just fine, set to lowish quality macro for best balance of clarity and storage space. Most of those places have amazing lil libraries with classics of the field all over, noone looks at the bloody things so someone might as well have a look.

If you have a healthcare card they're usually good for half price study fees too, lots of "flexible options" for people in "special circumstances" if you get on the phone.

I know what you mean about trying to break your head thru the wall of "what the fuck are they on about there?" with hort texts, I can NEVER remember the word but there is a term meaning "people who are halfway smart deliberately cluttering the place up with technical terms to seem three quarters smart". Counterproductive... even people that dearly WANT to understand, to do more in or with the field for themselves or others, just find it offputting.

Even (gasp) check out the council libraries, sometimes the good things haven't been pinched yet. If you live anywhere that public transport can get you to a museum, some have decent natural history sections with all kinds of pamphletty things, limited keys to the whatevers of wherever, common things in the backyard, all that. Botanical garden herbariums can often sort you out for keys, etc... then you run into "jargon" issues so google or otherwise hunt up a decent botanical and horticultural glossary or two (decent books usually have one in the back, or the front, anyway).

Keep plugging, funny thing is by the time you have your head completely around most of that stuff, you'll be back to "ah just chuck some in, bit of a drink, have a look in a week" anyway

It IS disgusting how hard it is to simply get "the facts" in a day n age of SO many streams of media... from anything close to a standing start, either in terms of what you know or what you can afford, or even how much time you can spend hunting around for it in the first place.

VM

[Chiral]

LOL..thanks that's actually some great advice...nice one.

H.