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| | |image = Acacia plicata.jpg | | |image = Acacia plicata.jpg |
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| | * ''Esclerona'' <small>Raf.</small> | | * ''Esclerona'' <small>Raf.</small> |
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| − | [[File:Acacia facsiculifera seedling.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Acacia facsiculifera]]'' shoot, showing phyllodes on the pinnate leaves, formed by dilation of the petiole and proximal part of the rachis<ref name=delin/>]]
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| − | '''''Acacia''''', commonly known as the '''wattles''' or '''acacias''', is a large [[genus]] of shrubs, [[liana]]s and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family [[Fabaceae]]. Initially it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australia, with the first species ''[[Vachellia nilotica|A. nilotica]]'' described by Linnaeus. Controversy erupted in the early 2000s when it became evident that the genus as it stood was not [[Monophyly|monophyletic]], and that several divergent lineages needed to be placed in separate genera. It turned out that one lineage comprising over 900 species mainly native to Australia was not closely related to the mainly African lineage that contained ''A. nilotica''—the first and [[type species]]. This meant that the Australian lineage (by far the most prolific in number of species) would need to be renamed. Botanist Les Pedley named this group '''''Racosperma''''', which was inconsistently adopted. Australian botanists proposed that this would be more disruptive than setting a different type species ([[Acacia penninervis|''A. penninervis'']]) and allowing this large number of species to remain ''Acacia'', resulting in the African lineage being renamed to ''[[Vachellia]]''. This was officially adopted, but many botanists from Africa and elsewhere disagreed that this was necessary.
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| − | A number of species have been introduced to various parts of the world, and two million hectares of commercial plantations have been established.<ref>Midgley and Turnbull</ref> The heterogeneous group<ref name=mur>{{cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=Daniel J. |title=A review of the classification of ''Acacia'' (Leguminosae, Mimosoideae) |journal=Muelleria |date=2008 |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=10–26 |url=http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Murphy3/publication/255611439_A_review_of_the_classification_of_Acacia_(Leguminosae_Mimosoideae)/links/0deec538aac2a38809000000.pdf |accessdate=22 November 2015}}</ref> varies considerably in habit, from mat-like [[subshrub]]s to canopy trees in forest.<ref name=orch1>{{cite book |last1=Orchard |first1=Anthony E. |last2=Wilson |first2=Annette J.G. |title=Flora of Australia. Volume 11A, Mimosaceae, Acacia part 1 |date=2001 |publisher=CSIRO |location=Melbourne |isbn=9780643067172 |pages=x-}}</ref>
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| − | ==Taxonomy==
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| − | The genus was first described from Africa by C. F. P. von Martius in 1829. Several hundred combinations in ''Acacia'' were published by Pedley in 2003.<ref name=ped1>{{cite journal|last1=Pedley |first1=Les |title=A synopsis of Racosperma. C.Mart. (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). |journal=Austrobaileya |date=2003 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=445–496 |jstor=41738994 }}</ref> The genus of 981<ref name=ped2>{{cite journal |last1=Pedley |first1=Les |title=Another view of ''Racosperma'' |journal=Acacia study group newsletter |date=February 2004 |issue=90 |page=3 |issn=1035-4638 |url=http://worldwidewattle.com/socgroups/asg/newsletters/90.pdf |accessdate=22 November 2015}}</ref> species, ''[[Acacia sensu lato|Acacia s.l.]]'', in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae is [[Monophyly|monophyletic]]. All but 10 of its species are native to [[Australia]],<ref name=ped2/> where it constitutes the largest plant genus.<ref name=mur/>
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| − | Following a controversial decision to choose a new [[Type (biology)|type]] for ''Acacia'' in 2005, the Australian component of ''Acacia s.l.'' now retains the name ''Acacia''.<ref name=thiel>{{cite journal |last1=Thiele |first1=Kevin R. |title=The controversy over the retypification of ''Acacia'' Mill. with an Australian type: A pragmatic view |journal=Taxon |date=February 2011 |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=194–198 |url=http://www.iapt-taxon.org/historic/Congress/IBC_2011/Acacia_pragm.pdf |accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref><ref name=brum>{{cite journal |last1=Brummitt |first1=R. K. |title=(292) ''Acacia'': a solution that should be acceptable to everybody |journal=Taxon |date=December 2010 |volume=59 |issue=6 |pages=1925–1926 |url=http://www.iapt-taxon.org/historic/Congress/IBC_2011/Prop291-292.pdf |accessdate=19 November 2015}}</ref> At the 2011 [[International Botanical Congress]] held in [[Melbourne]], the decision to use the name ''Acacia'', rather than the proposed ''Racosperma'' for this genus, was upheld.<ref name="acaciaresolution1">{{cite web |title=The Acacia debate |url=http://worldwidewattle.com/infogallery/nomenclature/nameissue/melbourne-ibc-2011-congress-news-tuesday-26-july.pdf |publisher=IBC2011 Congress News |accessdate=May 5, 2016}}</ref><ref name="acaciaresolution2">{{cite web |title=Conserving ''Acacia'' Mill. with a conserved type: What happened in Melbourne? |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iapt/tax/2011/00000060/00000005/art00033 |journal=''Taxon'' |author=Smith, Gideon F. |author2=Figueiredo, Estrela |last-author-amp=yes |volume=60 |issue=5 |year=2011 |pages=1504–1506 |accessdate=27 September 2016}}</ref> Other ''[[Acacia sensu lato|Acacia s.l.]]'' taxa continue to be called ''Acacia'' by those who choose to consider the entire group as one genus.<ref name="acaciaresolution2"/>
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| − | Australian species of the genus ''[[Paraserianthes]]'' ''[[sensu lato|s.l.]]'' are deemed its closest relatives, particularly with ''[[Paraserianthes lophantha|P. lophantha]]''.<ref name="Brown">{{cite journal|author=Brown, Gillian K.|author2=Daniel J. Murphy|author3=Pauline Y. Ladiges|last-author-amp=yes | year=2011|title=Relationships of the Australo-Malesian genus ''Paraserianthes'' (Mimosoideae: Leguminosae) identifies the sister group of ''Acacia'' sensu stricto and two biogeographical tracks.|journal=Cladistics |volume=27 |pages=380–390 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00349.x}}</ref> The nearest relatives of ''Acacia'' and ''Paraserianthes s.l.'' in turn include the Australian and [[South East Asia]]n genera ''[[Archidendron]]'', ''[[Archidendropsis]]'', ''[[Pararchidendron]]'' and ''[[Wallaceodendron]]'', all of the tribe [[Ingeae]].<ref name=bro>{{cite journal|last1=Brown |first1=Gillian K. |last2=Murphy |first2=Daniel J. |last3=Miller |first3=Joseph T.|last4=Ladiges |first4=Pauline Y. |title=''Acacia s.s.'' and its Relationship Among Tropical Legumes, Tribe Ingeae (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) |journal=Systematic Botany |date=1 October 2008 |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=739–751 |doi=10.1600/036364408786500136 |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1600/036364408786500136 |accessdate=23 November 2015}}</ref>
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| − | ===Etymology===
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| − | The origin of "[[Wattle (construction)|wattle]]" may be an [[Proto-Germanic language|Old Teutonic]] word meaning "to weave".<ref name=aus>{{cite book |last1=Austin |first1=Daniel F. |title=Florida ethnobotany Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona: with more than 500 species illustrated by Penelope N. Honychurch ... [et al.] |date=2004 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, FL |isbn=9780203491881 |page=58 }}<!--|accessdate=18 November 2015--></ref> From around 700 A.D. ''watul'' was used in [[Old English]] to refer to the interwoven branches and sticks which formed fences, walls and roofs. Since about 1810 it refers to the Australian legumes that provide these branches.<ref name=aus/>
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| − | ==Evolution==
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| − | Acacias in Australia probably evolved their fire resistance about 20 million years ago when fossilised charcoal deposits show a large increase, indicating that fire was a factor even then.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} With no major mountain ranges or rivers to prevent their spread, the wattles began to spread all over the continent as it dried and fires became more common.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} They began to form dry, open forests with species of the genera ''[[Casuarina]]'', ''[[Eucalyptus]]'' and ''[[Callitris]]'' (cypress-pines).
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| − | The southernmost species in the genus are ''[[Acacia dealbata]]'' (silver wattle), ''[[Acacia longifolia]]'' (coast wattle or Sydney golden wattle), ''[[Acacia mearnsii]]'' (black wattle), and ''[[Acacia melanoxylon]]'' (blackwood), reaching 43°30' S in [[Tasmania]], Australia.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}
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| − | ==Fossil record==
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| − | An ''Acacia''-like 14 cm long [[fossil]] seed pod has been described from the [[Eocene]] of the [[Paris Basin]].<ref>Fossil Plants by Paul Kenrick & Paul Davis, Natural History Muyseum, London, 2004, {{ISBN|0-565-09176-x}}</ref> ''Acacia'' like [[fossil]] pods under the name ''Leguminocarpon'' are known from late [[Oligocene]] [[deposits]] at different sites in [[Hungary]]. Acacia like seed pod fossils are also known from [[Tertiary]] deposits in [[Switzerland]], of †''Acacia parschlugiana'' and †''Acacia cyclosperma''.<ref>Distribution of Legumes in the Tertiary of Hungary by L. Hably, Advances in Legume Systematics: Part 4, The Fossil Record, Ed. P.S. Herendeen & Dilcher, 1992, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, {{ISBN|0947043400}}</ref> †''Acacia colchica'' has been described from the [[Miocene]] of West [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. While [[Pliocene]] fossil [[pollen]] of an ''Acacia'' sp. has been described from West [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Abkhazia]].<ref>Leguminosae species from the territory of [[Abkhazia]] by Alexandra K. Shakryl, Advances in Legume Systematics: Part 4, The Fossil Record, Ed. P.S. Herendeen & Dilcher, 1992, [[The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]], {{ISBN|0947043400}}</ref>
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| − | Oldest records of [[fossil]] ''Acacia'' [[pollen]] in [[Australia]] are from the late [[Oligocene epoch]], 25 million years ago.<ref>The Greening of [[Gondwana]] by [[Mary E. White]], [[Reed Books]] Pty Ltd, Australia, Reprinted issue 1988, {{ISBN|0730101541}}</ref>
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| − | ==Distribution and habitat==
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| − | They are present in all terrestrial habitats, including alpine settings, rainforests, woodlands, grasslands, coastal dunes and deserts.<ref name=orch1/> In drier woodlands or forest they are an important component of the understory. Elsewhere they may be dominant, as in the [[Brigalow Belt]], [[Myall Lakes National Park|Myall woodlands]] and the [[Eremaean province|eremaean]] [[Mulga Lands|Mulga]] woodlands.<ref name = orch1/>
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| − | In Australia, ''Acacia'' forest is the second most common forest type after ''[[Eucalyptus|Eucalypt]]'' forest, covering {{convert|980000|km2|sqmi|0}} or 8% of total forest area. ''Acacia'' is also the nation’s largest genus of flowering plants with almost 1,000 species found.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/forestsaustralia/profiles/acacia-forest|title=Acacia forest|accessdate=19 April 2017|date=6 February 2017|publisher=[[Commonwealth of Australia]]}}</ref>
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| − | ==Description==
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| − | Several of its species bear vertically oriented [[Petiole (botany)|phyllodes]], which are green, broadened leaf petioles that function like leaf blades,<ref name=wpa1>{{cite web|last1=Armstrong |first1=W. P. |title=Unforgettable Acacias, A Large Genus Of Trees & Shrubs |url=http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plaug99.htm |website=Wayne's Word |accessdate=17 November 2015}}</ref> an adaptation to hot climates and droughts.<ref name=tan>{{cite web |last1=Tan |first1=Ria |title=''Acacia auriculiformis'', Black Wattle |url=http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/acacia.htm |website=Naturia |accessdate=17 November 2015}}</ref> Some phyllodinous species have a colourful aril on the seed.<ref name=delin>{{cite web|last1=Wu |first1=Delin |last2=Nielsen |first2=Ivan C. |title=Flora of China, 6. Tribe Acacieae |url=http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume10/FOC_10_Acacieae.pdf |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden Press | date = 2009 |accessdate=19 November 2015}}</ref> A few species have [[Phylloclade|cladodes]] rather than leaves.<ref name=eol>{{cite web |title=''Acacia'', Thorntree |url=http://eol.org/pages/13650/details |website=EOL |accessdate=22 November 2015}}</ref>
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| − | ==Uses==
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| − | Indigenous Australians have traditionally harvested the seeds of some species, to be ground into flour and eaten as a paste or baked into a cake. The seeds contain as much as 25% more protein than common cereals, and they store well for long periods due to the hard seed coats.<ref name=tan/> In addition to utilizing the edible seed and gum, they employed the timber for implements, weapons, fuel and musical instruments.<ref name = orch1/> In [[ancient Egypt]], an ointment made from the ground leaves of the plant were used to treat [[hemorrhoid]]s.<ref name="Charles2002(book)">{{cite book|author=Ellesmore, Windsor|title=Surgical Treatment of Haemorrhoids|year=2002|publisher=London: Springer|editor=Charles MV|chapter=Surgical History of Haemorrhoids}}</ref> A number of species, most notably ''[[Acacia mangium|A. mangium]]'' (Hickory wattle), ''[[Acacia mearnsii|A. mearnsii]]'' (Black wattle) and ''[[Acacia saligna|A. saligna]]'' (Coojong), are economically important and are widely planted globally for wood products, tannin, firewood and fodder.<ref name=thiel/> ''[[Acacia melanoxylon|A. melanoxylon]]'' (Blackwood) and ''[[Acacia aneura|A. aneura]]'' (Mulga) supply some of the most attractive timbers in the genus.<ref name = orch1/> Black wattle bark supported the [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] industries of several countries, and may supply tannins for production of waterproof [[adhesive]]s.<ref name = orch1/>
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| − | Acacia is repeatedly mentioned in the [[Book of Exodus]], perhaps referring to ''[[Acacia raddiana]]'', in regards to the construction of the [[Tabernacle]].<ref name="ODU">{{cite web|url=http://ww2.odu.edu/~lmusselm/plant/bible/acacia.php|title=Plants of the Bible - ODU Plant Site|date=11 April 2007|publisher=[[Old Dominion University]]|accessdate=3 October 2016}}</ref>
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| − | == Species ==
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| − | {{see also|List of Acacia species|l1=List of ''Acacia'' species}}
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| − | One species is native to [[Madagascar]], one to [[Reunion island]], 12 to [[Asia]], and the remaining species (over 900) are native to [[Australasia]] and the [[Pacific Islands]].<ref name=thiel/> These species were all given combinations by Pedley when he erected the genus ''Racosperma'', hence ''[[Acacia pulchella]]'', for example, became ''[[Racosperma pulchellum]]''. However these were not upheld with the retypification of ''Acacia''.
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| | ==References== | | ==References== |
| − | * Pedley, L. (2002). "A conspectus of ''Acacia'' subgen. ''Acacia'' in Australia". ''Austrobaileya'' 6(2): 177–186.
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| − | * Pedley, L. (2003). A synopsis of ''Racosperma'' C.Mart". ''Austrobaileya'' 6(3): 445–496.
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| | {{reflist}} | | {{reflist}} |
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| − | == External links ==
| + | {{Ack-Wikipedia}} |
| − | * {{wikispecies-inline|Acacia|''Acacia''}}
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| − | [[Category:Mimosoideae]]
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