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Acacia

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{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = ''Acacia'' | image = Acacia melanoxylon branch.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''Acacia melanoxylon'' foliage and flowers | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Flowering plant Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Fabales | familia = Fabaceae | subfamilia = Mimosoideae | tribus = Acacieae | genus = '''''Acacia''''' | genus_authority = Gerrit Smith Miller Miller | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = About 1,300; see List of Acacia species }} :''For Acacia Research Corporation, see Acacia Technologies. For Acacia Fraternity, see Acacia Fraternity.'' '''''Acacia''''' is a genus of shrubs and trees of Gondwana Gondwanian origin belonging to the Subfamily Mimosoideae of the Pea Family (Family Fabaceae), first described from Africa by Carolus Linnaeus Linnaeus in 1773. There are roughly 1300 species of ''Acacia'' worldwide, about 950 of them native to Australia, with the remainder spread around the dry tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas. The Genus ''Acacia'' however is apparently not monophyletic. This discovery has led to the breaking up of ''Acacia'' into five new genera as discussed in List of Acacia species. The northernmost species in the genus is ''Acacia greggii'' (Catclaw Acacia), reaching 37Â°10' N in southern Utah in the United States; the southernmost are ''Acacia dealbata'' (Silver Wattle), ''Acacia longifolia'' (Coast Wattle or Sydney Golden Wattle), ''Acacia mearnsii'' (Black Wattle), and ''Acacia melanoxylon'' (Acacia melanoxylon Blackwood), reaching 43Â°30' S in Tasmania, Australia, while ''Acacia caven'' (Espinillo Negro) reaches nearly as far south in northeastern Chubut Province of Argentina. Australian species are usually called '''wattles''', while African and American species tend to be known as '''acacias'''. The leaves of acacias are compound pinnate in general. In some species, however, more especially in the Australian and Pacific islands species, the leaflets are suppressed, and the leaf-stalks ('''petioles''') become vertically flattened, and serve the purpose of leaves; these are known as '''phyllodes'''. The vertical orientation of the phyllodes protects them from intense sunlight, as with their edges towards the sky and earth they do not intercept light so fully as horizontally placed leaves. A few species (such as ''Acacia glaucoptera'') lack leaves or phyllodes altogether, but possess instead '''cladodes''', modified leaf-like photosynthetic stems functioning as leaves. The small flowers have five, very small petals, almost hidden by the long stamens, and are arranged in dense globular or cylindrical clusters; they are yellow or cream-colored in most species, whitish in some, even purple (as in ''Acacia purpureapetala'') or red (in the recently grown cultivar ''Acacia leprosa 'Scarlet Blaze'''). The plants often bear spines, especially those species growing in arid regions. These sometimes represent branches which have become short, hard and pungent, or sometimes leaf-stipules. ''Acacia armata'' is the Kangaroo-thorn of Australia, ''Acacia giraffae'', the Camelthorn of Africa. In the Central American ''Acacia sphaerocephala'', ''Acacia spadicigera'', and ''Acacia collinsii'' (collectively known as the bullthorn acacias), the large thorn-like stipules are hollow and afford shelter for ants, which feed on a secretion of honey on the leaf-stalk and curious food-bodies at the tips of the leaflets; in return they protect the plant against leaf-eating insects. In common parlance the term "acacia" is occasionally misapplied to species of the Genus ''Robinia'', which also belongs in the pea family. ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', an American species locally known as Black locust, is sometimes called "false acacia" in cultivation in Britain. In Australia, ''Acacia'' species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of Hepialidae hepialid moths of the genus ''Aenetus'' including ''A. ligniveren''. These burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down. Other Lepidoptera larvae which have been recorded feeding on ''Acacia'' include Brown-tail, ''Endoclita Endoclita malabaricus'' and Turnip Moth. The leaf-mining larvae of some Bucculatricidae bucculatricid moths also feed on ''Acacia'': ''Bucculatrix agilis'' feeds exclusively on ''Acacia horrida'', ''Bucculatrix flexuosa'' feeds exclusively on ''Acacia nilotica''.

Uses
Image:Acaciaauriculiformis1web.jpg thumb|right|250px|Earpod Wattle (''Acacia auriculiformis'')

Industrial and medicinal uses
Various species of acacia yield gum. True gum arabic is the product of ''Acacia senegal'', abundant in dry tropical west Africa from Senegal to northern Nigeria. ''Acacia arabica'' is the gum-arabic tree of India, but yields a gum inferior to the true gum-arabic. The bark of ''Acacia arabica'', under the name of '''babul''' or '''babool''', is used in Scinde for tanning. In Ayurvedic medicine, babul is considered a remedy that is helpful for treating premature ejaculation. The bark of various Australian species, known as wattles, is very rich in tannin and forms an important article of export; important species include ''Acacia pycnantha'' (Golden Wattle), ''Acacia decurrens'' (Tan Wattle), ''Acacia dealbata'' (Silver Wattle) and ''Acacia mearnsii'' (Black Wattle). Black Wattle is grown in plantations in South Africa. The pods of ''Acacia nilotica'' (under the name of neb-neb), and of other African species are also rich in tannin and used by tanners. Some species afford valuable timber; such are ''Acacia melanoxylon'' (Blackwood) from Australia, which attains a great size; its wood is used for furniture, and takes a high polish; and ''Acacia homalophylla'' (Myall Wood, also Australian), which yields a fragrant timber, used for ornamental purposes. ''Acacia formosa'' supplies the valuable Cuban timber called sabicu. ''Acacia seyal'' is thought to be the shittah tree of the Bible, which supplied shittim-wood. This was used in the construction of the Ark of the Covenant. As a spiritual icon it is also one of the most powerful symbols in freemasonry, representing the eternal soul and purity of the soul. ''Acacia heterophylla'' from RÃ©union island, and ''Koa Acacia koa'' from the Hawaiian Islands are excellent timber trees. ''Acacia farnesiana'' is used in the perfume industry due to its strong fragrance. An astringent medicine, called catechu or cutch, is procured from several species, but more especially from ''Acacia catechu'', by boiling down the wood and evaporating the solution so as to get an extract.

Ornamental uses
A few species are widely grown as ornamentals in gardens; the most popular perhaps is ''Acacia dealbata'' (Silver Wattle), with its attractive glaucous to silvery leaves and bright yellow flowers; it is erroneously known as "mimosa" in some areas where it is cultivated, through confusion with the related genus ''Mimosa''.

Culinary uses
Acacia seeds are often used for food and a variety of other products. The seeds of ''Acacia niopo'', for instance, are roasted and used as snuff in South America. In Laos and Thailand, the feathery shoots of ''Acacia pennata'' (common name ''cha-om'') are used in soups, curries, omelettes, and stir-fries.

Pharmacological uses
Many Acacia species contain some psychoactive alkaloids of which Dimethyltryptamine DMT and N-methyltryptamine NMT are the most prominent and useful. The leaves, stems and/or roots can be made into a brew together with some Monoamine oxidase inhibitor MAOI-containing plant to obtain an effect when taken orally. This could be seen as a kind of ''Ayahuasca''. Maybe in relation to this effect, Egyptian mythology has associated the acacia tree with characteristics of the tree of life (cf. article on the Legend of Osiris and Isis). Alkaloids in different species, from ''TiHKAL'' (by Alexander Shulgin):

''A. baileyana''	0.02% tryptamine and β-carbolines, in the leaf
''A. maidenii''	DMT and NMT, in the stem bark
''A. albida''	DMT, in the leaf
''A. confusa''	DMT and NMT, in the leaf, stem and bark
''A. cultriformis''	tryptamine, in the leaf and stem
''A. laeta''	DMT, in the leaf
''A. mellifera''	DMT, in the leaf
''A. nilotica''	DMT, in the leaf
''A. phlebophylla''	DMT, in the leaf
''A. podalyriaefolia''	tryptamine, in the leaf
''A. senegal''	DMT, in the leaf
''A. seyal''	DMT, in the leaf
''A. sieberiana''	DMT, in the leaf)
''A. simplicifolia''	DMT and NMT, in the leaf, stem and trunk bark
''A. vestita''	tryptamine, in the leaf and stem

Species
There are over 1,300 species of Acacia. See List of Acacia species for a complete listing.

External links
{{wikispecies|Acacia}} {{Commons|Acacia}}
- World Wide Wattle
- Wayne's Word on "The Unforgettable Acacias" Category:Acacia Category:Pantropical Flora Category:Australian plants Category:Argentine flora Category:Trees of Africa ar:Ø·Ù„Ø bg:Ð?ÐºÐ°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ? da:Akacie de:Akazien et:Akaatsia es:Acacia eo:Akacio fr:Acacia gl:Acacia ko:ì•„ì¹´ì‹œì•„ì†? it:Acacia nl:Acacia ja:ã‚¢ã‚«ã‚·ã‚¢ pl:Akacja pt:AcÃ¡cia sr:Ð?ÐºÐ°Ñ†Ð¸Ñ˜Ð° fi:Akasiat sv:Akacior vi:Chi Keo uk:Ð?ÐºÐ°Ñ†Ñ–Ñ? zh:é‡‘å?ˆæ¬¢ {{sisterlinkswp|Category:Acacia}} Category:Mimosoideae Category:Trees

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