Lightwood

Appearance

"Acacia implexa" is a long-lived small to medium-sized tree with an upright habit and an open crown that typically grows to a height of 5 to 15 m and a width of 4 to 10 m. The tree can have a single or multiple stems with rough greyish bark. The branchlets are commonly lightly covered in waxy bloom but are not prominently ribbed. It has light green, slender sickle-shaped phyllodes that have a length of up to 20 cm and a width of 6 to 25 mm. The phyllodes have three to seven prominent nerves and many other fainter ones that are parallel and branching. Bipinnate leaves may persist on some plants. Young foliage has a purple colour in certain conditions. It blooms in summer and produces spherical cream-coloured flowers with a strong perfume. The flower heads have a diameter of 5 to 6 mm and contain 30 to 52 cream to pale yellow flowers. After flowering, thick woody seed pods with a linear and twisted to coiled shape form with a length of 25 cm and a width of 4 to 7 mm.

Dust from the pods can irritate the eyes and nose. It has wood similar to and is often mistaken with "Acacia melanoxylon".

Naming

The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1842 as part of the work "Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species" as published in the "London Journal of Botany". It was reclassified as "Racosperma implexum" by Leslie Pedley in 1987 and transferred back into its original genus in 2006. The only other synonym is "Acacia implexa" var. "implexa".

The Wiradjuri people of New South Wales use the name "Gidya".

Distribution

It is widespread in eastern Australia from central coastal Queensland to southern Victoria, with outlying populations on the Atherton Tableland in northern Queensland and Tasmania's King Island.
The tree is commonly found on fertile plains and in hilly country, where it is usually part of open forest communities and grows in shallow, drier sandy and clay soils.

Uses

The Ngunnawal people of the ACT used the bark to make rope, string, medicine and fish poison, the timber for tools, and the seeds to make flour. The Dharawal people used the flowering of "Acacia implexa" as a seasonal indicator that fires should not be lit unless they are on sand, and camping near creeks and rivers is avoided during this time. The Wiradjuri people of New South Wales use the seeds to make flour, and the bark as a medicine, and for fish poison.