Acacia hakeoides

Cunn. ex Benth.

Hakea wattle

Fabaceae Edible: Seeds 182 iNaturalist observations

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

iNaturalist· cc-by

Summary

Acacia hakeoides, known colloquially as hakea wattle, hakea-leaved wattle or western black wattle, is a species of flowering plant endemic to southern Australia. It is a bushy shrub or tree with lance-shaped to linear phyllodes, racemes of bright golden-yellow flowers and more or less leathery to leathery to hard and brittle pods. It can be found growing in sandy soils in semiarid and Eucalyptus woodland in the region.

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

The seed of "Acacia hakeoides" is edible and it has been suggested that this seed is suitable for culinary use as a flavouring agent, as a stable carbohydrate or as a coffee substitute, among others. In light of this fact, the species has been listed by one study as a medium priority species of interest for domestication for seed production purposes.