''Acacia estrophiolata'', commonly known as ironwood, southern ironwood, desert ironwood or utjanypa, is a tree native to

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...

Description

It is a graceful, pendulous shade tree, which grows from about tall and has a trunk with a

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

of up to about 0.45 m. It has a spreading crown that becomes weeping as the tree matures. Young plants have rigid branches and short straight

phyllode Phyllodes are modified petiole (botany), petioles or leaf stems, which are leaf-like in appearance and function. In some plants, these become flattened and widened, while the leaf itself becomes reduced or vanishes altogether. Thus the phyllode co ...

s that appear in clusters. As trees mature the branches become pendulous and the light green, spiky phyllodes increase in length but are no longer clustered. It has a heavy bloom of spherical pale yellow flowers after winter rains. The tree has a slow growth rate and is both drought and frost tolerant.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

in 1882 as part of the work ''Definitions of some new Australian plants'' as published in ''Southern Science Record''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma estrophiolatum'' by

Leslie Pedley Leslie Pedley (19 May 1930 – 27 November 2018)IPNILeslie Pedley/ref> was an Australian botanist who specialised in the genus ''Acacia''. He is notable for bringing into use the generic name ''Racosperma'', creating a split in the genus, which r ...

in 1987 then returned to the genus ''Acacia'' in 2001. It is closely related to '' Acacia excelsa'' and more distantly related to '' Acacia dolichophylla''. The type specimen was collected near the

Finke River The Finke River, or Larapinta in the Indigenous Arrernte language, is a river in central Australia, whose bed courses through the Northern Territory and the state of South Australia. It is one of the four main rivers of Lake Eyre Basin and is th ...

in the Northern Territory by H.Kempe.

Distribution

The tree is found in north western parts of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, southern parts of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and eastern parts of the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

and Goldfields regions of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is usually found in areas with about 220–350 mm/year of average rainfall. ''A. estrophiolata'' grows mostly on sandy alluvial flats in sandy well drained soils, found as scattered trees among tall open shrubland and open woodland communities.

Uses

Food

Traditionally,

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

would use the gum from the tree as a sweet

bushtucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or fungi used for culinary or medicinal ...

treat. Its name in the

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

language of

is ''Ngkwarle athenge arlperle''. It is still sometimes eaten today. The gum is snapped off the branches, either clear or red. It is then ground and mixed with a little water, then left to set again to a chewable gum, and eaten with a small stick.

Forage

The tree makes good forage for

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

. The seeds are edible and are 28.9%

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

Traditional medicine

Parts of the tree are used topically to treat

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

problems such as burns, cuts,

scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious human skin infestation by the tiny (0.2–0.45 mm) mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei'', variety ''hominis''. The word is from . The most common symptoms are severe itchiness a ...

, sores and it is also used for treating major

wound A wound is any disruption of or damage to living tissue, such as skin, mucous membranes, or organs. Wounds can either be the sudden result of direct trauma (mechanical, thermal, chemical), or can develop slowly over time due to underlying diseas ...

s. It is used as a lotion to treat

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

problems.

Wood

The wood is very hard and it is good for making posts for

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

References

External links

Alice Springs Town Council
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4670928 estrophiolata Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of South Australia Acacias of Western Australia Fabales of Australia Bushfood Bush medicine Medicinal plants of Australia Australian Aboriginal bushcraft Plants described in 1882 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller