Acacia xiphophylla

What to Eat

Edible parts: Seeds, Gum

Seed - cooked. The seedpods are 8 - 20cm long, 7 - 18 mm wide, with dull brown, broadly elliptic seeds 6 - 10mm long. Acacia seeds are highly nutritious and contain around 26% protein, 26% available carbohydrate, 32% fibre and 9% fat. The fat content is higher than most legumes with the aril providing the bulk of fatty acids present. These fatty acids are largely unsaturated. The energy content is high in all species tested, averaging 1480 ±270 kJ per 100g. The seeds are low glycaemic index foods - the starch is digested and absorbed very slowly, producing a small, but sustained rise in blood glucose and so delaying the onset of exhaustion in prolonged exercise. The ground seed can be used to produce a high quality, caffeine-free coffee-like beverage. An edible gum is obtained from the stem and branches.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is more common in tropical northern Australia. It probably needs well drained soil and plenty of sunlight. It tends to grow as a clump of trees together in creek beds, often on red soils.

Australia*,

How to Identify

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.

How to Grow

It is grown from seed.

Propagation: The seed of most members of this genus has a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing to speed up germination. The seeds of this species, however, are soft-coated and therefore may not require any treatment prior to sowing. If required, scarification can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. Acacia seeds that have matured fully on the bush and have been properly dried have a hard seed coat and can be stored in closed containers without deterioration for 5 - 10 years or more in dry conditions at ambient temperatures. It is best to remove the aril, which attracts weevils and can lead to moulds forming. The arils are easilyremoved by placing the seeds in water and rubbing them between the hands, then drying the seeds and winnowing them.

Medicinal Uses

The bark and phyllodes were burnt to make burrgu, a mixture of ash and chewing tobacco, which acts as a stimulant. The bark of all Acacia species contains greater or lesser quantities of tannins and are astringent. Astringents are often used medicinally - taken internally, for example. they are used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery, and can also be helpful in cases of internal bleeding. Applied externally, often as a wash, they are used to treat wounds and other skin problems, haemorrhoids, perspiring feet, some eye problems, as a mouth wash etc. Many Acacia trees also yield greater or lesser quantities of a gum from the trunk and stems. This is sometimes taken internally in the treatment of diarrhoea and haemorrhoids.

Other Uses

The ash from the burnt wood is mixed with animal fat or oil to make body paint or to paint artifacts. The heartwood is dark coloured; it is demarcated from the lighter coloured sapwood. An attractive wood, it is sometimes used for crafwork. The wood was used traditionally to make boomerangs, spear throwers and fighting sticks. The dense wood makes an excellent fuel, burning slowly and with great heat.

Acacia xiphophylla, commonly known as snakewood or snake-wood, is a tree in the family Fabaceae that is endemic to Western Australia. The indigenous group the Martuthunira, Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi peoples know it as marrawa, the Kariyarra know it as puluru and the Jiwarli know it as pukarti.

Production

It is slow growing and long lived.

Notes

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

More from Fabaceae

Abrus cantoniensis

Abrus precatorius

Bird's eye, Indian liquorice

Abrus precatorius subsp. africanus

Abrus pulchellus

Malay licorice

Acacia abyssinica

Flat-top acacia

Acacia acatlensis

Chondata