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Family Fabaceae / Mimosacea

Acacia
Acacia crassicarpa Benth
THICK-PODDED SALWOOD


Scientific names Common names
Acacia crassicarpa Benth Golden wattle (Engl.)
Racosperma crassicarpum (Benth) Pedley Growfast (Engl.)
  Northern wattle (Engl.)
  Red wattle (Engl.)
  Salwood (Engl.)
  Thick-podded salwood (Engl.)
  Wattle (Engl.)
Acacia is a name shared by many species of Philippine plants, both scientific and common names: (1) Acacia concinna, acacia, a prickly shrub found in La Union, Benguet, and Ilocos Sur provinces of northern Luzon (2) Albizzia lebbect, acaci, langil, mimosa (3) Samanea saman, rain tree, acacia, for Acacia concinna (4) Acacia farnesiana, aroma (5) Acacia glauca, ipil-ipil (6) Acacia niopo, kupang, and (7) Acacia crassicarpa.
Racosperma crassicarpum (Benth.) Pedley is a synonym of Acacia crassicarpa Benth. The Plant List
Acacia crassicarpa Benth. is an accepted name The Plant List

Other vernacular names
CHINESE: Teng jin he huan.

Botany
Acacia crassicarpa is a small- to medium-sized tree, growing to 25 meters high. Trunk is often straight and branchless for 13 to 18 meters. Crown is heavily branched and spreading. Bark is dark brown, hard with deep vertical furrows; the inner bark is red and fibrous. The leaves are winged and curved like a sickle, 8 to 20 centimeter by 1 to 4 centimeters, greyish green and glabrous. Inflorescence is a bright yellow spike, clustered in groups of 2 to 6. Pods are woody, oblong-ovoid, flat, 5 to 8 centimeters long, 2 to 3 centimeters wide, glabrous, dull brown, transversely veined. Seeds are oblongoid, 5 to 6 millimeters by 2 to 3 millimeters wide, black and arranged in separate compartments.

Distribution
- Recently introduced and popular used as an ornamental shade tree.
- In landscaping, considered a "grow fast" tree.

- Native to Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea.
- Exotic in China, Fiji, Malaysia, Thailand.

Constituents
- Study of the chemical components from 5 families of A. crassicarpa showed every family yielded cellulose greater than 58%, lignin about 25%, and low ash ranging from 0.19 to 0.33%. (3)

Uses
Edibility
- It has an edible gum which forms a tofee when soaked in water with honey.
- The roots are cooked and eaten.
Folkloric
- No recorded medicinal use in the Philippines.
- The gum, roots, leaves, bark. pods and seeds have been used by aboriginal Australians in decoction, poultice, tonics or inhalations for a variety of ailments — diarrhea, dysentery, sore eyes, colds, sore eyes and skin conditions. (5)
Other uses
- Firewood: Wood dries rapidly and is good for firewood and charcoal.
- Kraft / Pulp: Suitable for kraft pulping.
- Timber: Wood is strong and durable. The wood was used for manufacturing weapons and tools. Suitable for a wide range of timber end-uses, structural or decorative applications like construction, furniture, flooring, boat building. (5)
- Mulch: Leaves decompose slowly; useful as mulch.

Studies
Phenolic Compounds / Antioxidants: Bioactive phenolic substances have been found in the heartwood, sapwood and knots of Acacia crassicarpa. (1)
Chemical Components of Wood / Pulping: Study of chemical components of wood from 5 families of A. crassicarpa showed it can be used as raw material for pulping. (see constituents above) (3)
Phytoremediation: Phytoremediation study showed the provision of fly ash and dreg significantly affected the growth of A. crassicarpa and its efficiency of metal uptake. Most heavy metals accumulated in the roots and the largest uptake efficiency was at the plant roots. (6)


Availability
Ornamental cultivation.


Last Updated June 2016


Photos © Godofredo Stuart / StuartXchange

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Bioactive phenolic substances in important tree species. Part 3: Knots and stemwood of Acacia crassicarpa and A. mangium / Xolopo / Science on Line

(2)
Acacia crassicarpa / AgroforestryTree Database
(3)
Study on chemical constituents of Acacia crassicarpa. / Atiwannapat, P.; Anapanuruk, W.; Oonjittichai, W.; Karuhaputtana, B. / Proceedings of the 46th Kasetsart University Annual Conference, Kasetsart, Thailand, 29 January - 1 February, 2008. Subject: Agro-Industry 2008 pp. 125-129
(4)
Racosperma crassicarpum (Benth.) Pedley / The Plant List
(5)
Acacia crassicarpa -- A.Cunn. ex Benth / Useful Tropical Plants
(6)
Phytoremediation with Acacia (Acacia crassicarpa) on peat soil using fly ash and dreg as ameliorants / Yayuk Sri Rejeki, Nelvia, Saryono / Indonesian Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, Vol 1, No 1, Dec 2014, pp 22-27

It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page.

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