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Acacia melanoxylon

Common name:	Blackwood	Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	R.Br.	Botanical references:	11, 154, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Australia - New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria. Locally naturalized in S.W. Europe[50].
Habitat:	Wet forests on good soils up to the montane zone[152, 154]. Usually an under-storey tree in Eucalyptus forests[167].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Racosperma melanoxylon[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Blackwood [P,B], Blackwood Acacia [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	melanoxylon = black wood
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 30m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower in April. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Secondary, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Flowers.

Flowers - cooked[144]. Rich in pollen, they are often used in fritters. The flowers have a penetrating scent[245].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antirheumatic.

Antirheumatic[152].

Other Uses

Dye Soil stabilization Tannin Wood.

A yellow dye is obtained from the flowers[168].
A green dye is obtained from the seed pods[168].
The extensive root system of this plant helps to prevent soil erosion[200].
The bark is rich in tannin[152].
Wood - hard, dark, close grained, high quality, takes a high polish. Used for furniture, fittings etc[1, 4, 11, 154, 156, 167].

Cultivation details

Prefers a sandy loam and a very sunny position[1]. Prefers a deep moist soil[167]. Succeeds in a hot dry position[166]. Succeeds in any good garden soil that is not excessively limey[11]. Most members of this genus become chlorotic on limey soils[200].
This is one of the hardier members of the genus, tolerating temperatures down to about -10° c[260]. It succeeds outdoors in Britain from Dorset westwards, also in south-western Scotland and in Ireland[1, 11]. However, even in the mildest areas of the country it is liable to be cut back to the ground in excessively cold winters though it can resprout from the base[11]. It is planted for timber in south-west Europe[50].
This species produces both phyllodes (basically a flattened stem that looks and acts like a leaf) and true leaves[1, 166].
The roots are very vigorous and extensive - they often produce suckers[260] and can damage the foundations of buildings[200].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[200].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a sunny position in a warm greenhouse[1]. Stored seed should be scarified, pre-soaked for 12 hours in warm water and then sown in a warm greenhouse in March. The seed germinates in 3 - 4 weeks at 25° c[133]. As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots and grow them on in a sunny position in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts, and consider giving them some protection from the cold for their first winter outdoors.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood with a heel, July/August in individual pots in a frame[78]. Overwinter in a greenhouse for the first winter and plant out in their permanent positions in late spring or early summer. Fair percentage[78].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have a penetrating scent.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[133] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 1. Thompson and Morgan. 1987
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[144] Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana 1976 ISBN 0-00-634436-4
A very good pocket guide.

[152] Lassak. E. V. and McCarthy. T. Australian Medicinal Plants.
A very good and readable guide to the subject.

[154] Ewart. A. J. Flora of Victoria.
A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.

[156] Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Useful Wild Plants in Australia. William Collins Pty Ltd. Sidney 1981 ISBN 0-00-216441-8
A very readable book.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[167] Holliday. I. and Hill. R. A Field Guide to Australian Trees. Frederick Muller Ltd. 1974 ISBN 0-85179-627-3
A well illustrated and very readable book, but it does not contain much information for the plant project.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[260] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Pan Books, London. 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5
Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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