Acacia coriacea

Acacia coriacea, commonly known as river jam, wirewood, wiry wattle, desert oak, or dogwood, is a tree in the family Fabaceae. It occurs throughout northern Australia, growing as a tall tree on the banks of rivers. It also occurs as a spreading, low tree behind coastal dunes, on spinifex plains and in woodlands in semi-arid regions.

River jam grows to a height of about eight metres. It usually has just one or two main trunks. Like most Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. These are thick and leathery, between twenty and thirty centimetres long, and narrow. The flowers are yellow, and held in spherical clusters about five millimetres in diameter. The pods are usually curled up, but are around twenty centimetres long when straightened. They are greatly constricted between the seeds.

Additional recommended knowledge

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

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Daily Visual Balance Check

Varieties

• Acacia coriacea var. coriacea is a synonym for Acacia coriacea subsp. coriacea.^[1]

Subspecies

There are three subspecies:

• Acacia coriacea subsp. coriacea
• Acacia coriacea subsp. pendens
• Acacia coriacea subsp. sericophylla

A. coriacea subsp. coriacea is mostly restricted to Western Australia, but there is a small, isolated population in the Northern Territory; A. c. subsp. pendens is endemic to Western Australia. A. c. subsp. sericophylla is the most widely distributed subspecies, occurring in every mainland State except Victoria.

References

Notes

1. ^ Australian Plant Name Index (APNI)

General references

• Acacia coriacea. Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
• Acacia coriacea. FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
• Mitchell, A. A. and Wilcox, D. G. (1994). Arid Shrubland Plants of Western Australia, Second and Enlarged Edition, Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1-875560-22-X.