New Guinea wattle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids New Guinea wattle |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Acacia
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| Species: |
aulacocarpa
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| Where this plant grows (data from AVH) | |
Acacia aulacocarpa, also known as New Guinea wattle or golden flowered salwood, is a type of shrub or tree found in Australia. It belongs to the pea family. You can also find this plant in Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, and parts of Indonesia.
Contents
What the New Guinea Wattle Looks Like
The New Guinea wattle can grow in two ways. It can be a small bush, usually about 0.5 to 2 meters (1.6 to 6.5 feet) tall. Or, it can be a small tree, typically 2 to 8 meters (6.5 to 26 feet) tall. Some of these trees can even reach up to 15 meters (49 feet) high!
Most of the time, this plant has one main stem. But sometimes, it might have a few branches near the bottom. The top part of the tree, called the crown, usually spreads out wide. The bark is mostly smooth. However, on older, taller trees, the bark at the bottom can be cracked and rough.
The small branches are smooth and have sharp angles. Like many Acacia plants, it doesn't have true leaves. Instead, it has special flattened stems called phyllodes that look like leaves. These phyllodes are curved and shaped like a sickle. They are about 5 to 12 centimeters (2 to 4.7 inches) long and 0.7 to 3.5 centimeters (0.3 to 1.4 inches) wide. They have a slightly shiny, blue-green color. You can see many straight lines running along them.
This plant usually blooms, meaning it produces flowers, between January and June.
How the New Guinea Wattle Was Named
The New Guinea wattle was first officially described by a botanist named George Bentham in 1842. He wrote about it in a book called Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species. This book was part of William Jackson Hooker's work published in the London Journal of Botany.
For a while, in 1987, another botanist named Leslie Pedley put it in a different group called Racosperma aulacocarpum. But later, in 2006, it was moved back to the Acacia group, where it is today.
Where the New Guinea Wattle Grows
The New Guinea wattle naturally grows in eastern Australia. You can find it east of the Great Dividing Range, from northern Queensland down to northern New South Wales.
Even though it's found in many places, it's not super common everywhere. It usually grows in specific spots, like near rocky areas where water runs off, or along the banks of creeks. In New South Wales, it's quite rare and only found in the Grafton area.
It's much more common in Queensland. It grows in different spots along the coast and nearby tablelands of the Great Dividing Range. You can find it from around Daintree in the north to south of Brisbane. This plant likes sandy soils. It often grows in sclerophyll forests or woodlands, which are types of forests with tough, dry leaves, usually on sandstone rock.
Images for kids
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The leaves and flowers of the New Guinea wattle.
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A map showing where the New Guinea wattle grows.
In Spanish: Acacia aulacocarpa para niños
