Acacia coriacea subsp. sericophylla

(F. Muell.) R. S. Cowan & Maslin

Kerlperr, Leather leaved wattle

Fabaceae Edible: Seeds 53 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Acacia coriacea, commonly known as wirewood, wiry wattle or desert oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to northern Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub or tree with thin bark, linear to very narrowly elliptic phyllodes, spherical heads of pale lemon yellow or cream-coloured flowers and twisted, curved or coiled pods resembling a string of beads. Indigenous Australians know the plant as Gunandru.

Description

A shrub or small tree. It grows 5 m tall. There are prickles along the stem. The leaves are twice divided and there are 8-18 pairs of pinnae. There are up to 50 pairs of pinnules on each pinnae. The flowers are yellow. They are in large clusters at the ends of branches. The pods are flattened.

Edible Uses

Indigenous Australians used the seeds of this species as a food source, the wood for making spears and shields, and the ash produced from the wood was used with native tobacco (Nicotinia species) as a chewing quid.

Traditional Uses

The seedpods are cooked in the fire then the seeds eaten. The seeds are also crushed and mixed with water then eaten.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It grows in central Australia.

Where It Grows

Australia*,

Production

The seedpods are harvested.

Notes

There are about 1,350 Acacia species. Over 1,000 occur in Australia. Also as Mimosaceae.

Also Known As

Akerlperr, Dogwood, Warntanyin

References (3)

Cancilla, D., 2018, Ethnobotanical and Ethnozoological Values Desktop Assessment - Eliwana Project. p 9
Green, J., (Ed.), 2003, Anmatyerr Plant Stories. AID Press. p 2
Miers, G., 2004, Cultivation and sustainable wild harvest of Bushfoods by Aboriginal Communities in Central Australia. RIRDC report W03/124 p 19