Acacia longifolia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Fabales

Familia: Fabaceae
Subfamilia: Caesalpinioideae
Tribus: Acacieae
Genus: Acacia
Species: Acacia longifolia
Subspecies: A. l. subsp. longifolia – A. l. subsp. sophorae
Name

Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd., 1806
Synonyms

Acacia decussata Ten.
Acacia foliosa Seem.
Acacia longifolia var. angustata Seem.
Acacia longifolia var. bylongensis R.T.Baker
Acacia longifolia var. lanceolata Seem.
Acacia longifolia var. latifolia Sweet
Acacia longifolia var. prostrata C.Moore & Betche
Acacia spathulata Tausch
Acacia thegonocarpa A.Cunn. ex Sweet
Acacia trigonocarpa Jacques
Cuparilla sophorina Raf.
Mimosa falcata Dum.Cours.
Mimosa longifolia Andrews
Mimosa macrostachya Poir.
Phyllodoce longifolia (Andrews) Link
Racosperma longifolium (Andrews) Pedley

Homonyms

Acacia longifolia Paxton = Acacia dentifera Benth.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:
Acacia longifolia

Continental: Australasia
Regional: Australia
New South Wales, Victoria.
Introduced into:
Argentina Northeast, Ascension, Assam, Bangladesh, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, California, Cape Provinces, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Jawa, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Mauritius, Morocco, Myanmar, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Palestine, Portugal, Réunion, South Australia, Spain, Sri Lanka, St.Helena, Swaziland, Uruguay

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Willdenow, C.L. 1806. Species Plantarum. Editio quarta. Tomus 4. Pars 2. Pp. 634–1157. Impensis G. C. Nauk, Berolini [Berlin]. BHL Biblioteca Digital Reference page. : 1052

Links

International Plant Names Index. 2019. Acacia longifolia. Published online. Accessed: Aug 07 2019.
Tropicos.org 2019. Acacia longifolia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Aug 07.
Hassler, M. Aug. Acacia longifolia. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. Aug. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: Aug 07 {{{3}}}. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Acacia longifolia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 09-Oct-10.

Vernacular names
English: Sydney golden wattle

Acacia longifolia is a species of Acacia native to southeastern Australia, from the extreme southeast of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, eastern and southern Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. Common names for it include long-leaved wattle, acacia trinervis, aroma doble, golden wattle, coast wattle, sallow wattle and Sydney golden wattle. It is not listed as being a threatened species,[2][1] and is considered invasive in Portugal and South Africa.[3] In the southern region of Western Australia, it has become naturalised and has been classed as a weed by out-competing indigenous species. It is a tree that grows very quickly reaching 7–10 m in five to six years.[4]

Description

Golden wattle occurs as both a shrub or tree that can reach a height of up to 8 m (26 ft). It has smooth to finely fissured greyish coloured bark and glabrous branchlets that are angled towards the apices. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The evergreen and glabrous phyllodes are mostly straight but occasionally slightly curved with a length of 4 to 20 cm (1.6 to 7.9 in) and a width of 4 to 30 mm (0.16 to 1.18 in) and have numerous prominent longitudinal veins. It blooms between June and October in its native range producing simple inflorescences that occur singly or in pairs in the phyllode axils on stalks with a length of less than 2 mm (0.079 in). The cylindrical flower-spikes have a length of 2 to 4.5 cm (0.79 to 1.77 in) packed with bright to pale yellow coloured flowers.[5] Following flowering thinly leathery to firmly papery seed pods form that are straight to strongly twisted and raised over and constricted between each of the seeds. The pods are usually 4 to 15 cm (1.6 to 5.9 in) in length and 2.5 to 6 mm (0.098 to 0.236 in) and reasonably brittle when dry.[5]
Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by Henry Cranke Andrews in 1802 as Mimosa longifolia in The Botanist's Repository for New, and Rare Plants then in 1806 as Acacia longifolia in the Carl Ludwig Willdenow publication Species Plantarum. It was reclassified as Racosperma longifolium in 1987 by Leslie Pedley then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006. Other synonyms include Mimosa macrostachya and Phyllodoce longifolia.[6]

The specific epithet refers to the long phyllodes on this species.[5]

There are two recognised subspecies:[2]

Acacia longifolia subsp. longifolia
Acacia longifolia subsp. sophorae (Labill.) Court

Distribution

The species is endemic to coastal area of south eastern Queensland close to the border with New South Wales extending southward down the coast of New South Wales. In New South Wales it is common along the tablelands and coastal areas where it is situated in various habitats including foredunes and is usually a part of sclerophyll woodland or coastal heath and scrub communities.[5] The range then extends south and east through Victoria and into South Australia. In South Australia it is found on the Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, southern Lofty Ranges and throughout the south eastern region where it is mostly restricted to sand dunes.[7]

It has become naturalised in the south west of Western Australia in coastal areas extending from around Perth in the north down to around Albany in the south. It is thought to have introduced by escaping from gardens and being used in restoration plantings. Control methods include hand pulling seedlings and ringbarking or using glyphosate on older plants.[8]
Uses

Acacia longifolia is widely cultivated in subtropical regions of the world. Its uses include prevention of soil erosion, food (flowers, seeds and seed pods), yellow dye (from the flowers), green dye (pods) and wood.[9] The flower colour derives from the organic compound kaempferol.[10] The tree's bark has limited use in tanning, primarily for sheepskin. It is useful for securing uninhabited sand in coastal areas, primarily where there are not too many hard frosts.[11] In Tasmania the ripening pods were roasted and the seeds removed and eaten.[12]
Young galls of Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae, still showing the branch morphology of the galled buds. One of the phyllodes already seems to be showing stress and might be expected to drop within a few weeks or months.
Cultivation

The shrub is available commercially and can be propagated by seed scarification or boiling water treatment. It is regarded as an attractive, hardy, fast-growing species suitable as a hedge plant or for screening. Suitable for hydroseeding work on banks where it will provide soil stabilization. Sydney golden wattle is well suited for low maintenance areas such as road batters, will grow in a range of soil types and is frost hardy.[13] It is heavily used at present in Southern California as a street canopy tree, as it grows fairly quickly (reaching a height of five meters within a year or two of planting), tolerates drought, and is resilient even to the particularly brutal pruning practices associated with low-cost tree services.

In Portugal the species is considered highly invasive in sand dunes and its cultivation is prohibited by law.[14]
Control

In South Africa at least, the Pteromalid wasp Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae has been introduced from Australia, and has spread rapidly, achieving substantial control.[15] The effect on the trees has been described as drastic seed reduction (typically over 90%) by galling of reproductive buds, and indirect debilitation of the affected plant by increased abscission of inflorescences adjacent to the growing galls. The presence of galls also caused leaf abscission, reducing vegetative growth as well as reproductive output.
Phytochemistry

N-(2-imidazol-4-yl-ethyl)-trans-cinnamamide[16]
N-(2-imidazol-4-yl-ethyl)-deca-trans-2, cis-4-dienamide[16]
dimethyltryptamine 0.2–0.3%, histamine[17]

References
"Acacia longifolia - ILDIS LegumeWeb". www.ildis.org. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
Australian Plant Name Index: Acacia longifolia
Vespa australiana pode ajudar a reduzir invasão das acácias
Warringah Online
"Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd". PlantNet. Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
"Acacia longifolia (Andrews) Willd". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
"Acacia longifolia". Electronic Flora of South Australia species Fact Sheet. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
"Acacia longifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
Plants for a Future: Acacia longifolia
Lycaeum: Phytochemistry Intro Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
Ferdinand Mueller (freiherr von) (1884). Select extra-tropical plants readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalization. G.S. Davis. pp. 7–. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
J. H. Maiden (1889). The useful native plants of Australia : Including Tasmania. Turner and Henderson, Sydney.
"Acacia longifolia Sydney Golden Wattle". Wattles - genus Acacia. Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
Derkx, M.P.M.; Brouwer, J.H.D.; Van Breda, P.J.M.; Helsen, H.H.M.; Hoffman, M.H.A.; Hop, M.E.C.M. (2015). "Extensive literature search for preparatory work to support pan European pest risk assessment: Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae" (PDF). EFSA Supporting Publications. Wageningen University and Research. 12 (4). doi:10.2903/SP.EFSA.2015.EN-764. S2CID 89213286. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
Dennill, G.B. ; The effect of the gall wasp Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) on reproductive potential and vegetative growth of the weed Acacia longifolia; Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Volume 14, Issues 1-2, November 1985, Pages 53-61
Repke DB (1975). "The histamine amides of Acacia longifolia". Lloydia. 38 (2): 101–5. PMID 1134208.
Hegnauer, Robert (1994). Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen. Springer. ISBN 3-7643-2979-3., Nen in Entheogen Review (journal) 1994-7