Acacia aneura

Acacia aneura subsp. var.	Mulga
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	Fabaceae > Acacia aneura var. ,

Acacia aneura, commonly known as Mulga or True Mulga, is a shrub or small tree native to arid outback Australia of areas such as the Western Australian Mulga shrublands.

Mulga is highly variable, in form, in height, and in shape of phyllodes and seed pods. It can form dense forest up to 15 metres high, or small, almost heath-like low shrubs spread well apart. Most commonly, it is a tall shrub. Because it is so variable, the taxonomy of the Mulga has been studied extensively, and although it is likely to be split into several species eventually, there is as yet no consensus on how or even if this should be done. Although generally small in size, Mulga is long-lived, a typical life span for a tree undisturbed by fire is in the order of 200 to 300 years.

Mulga has developed extensive adaptations to the Australian desert. Like many Acacia species, Mulga has thick-skinned phyllodes. These are optimised for low water loss, with a high oil content, sunken stomata, and a profusion of tiny hairs to reduce transpiration. During dry periods, a Mulga drops much of its foliage to the ground, which provides an extra layer of mulch and from where the nutrients can be recycled.

Like most Australian Acacia species, mulga is thornless. The needle-like phyllodes stand erect to avoid as much of the midday sun as possible and capture the cooler morning and evening light. Any rain that falls is channeled down the phyllodes and branches to be collected in the soil immediately next to the trunk, providing the tree with a more than threefold increase in effective rainfall. Mulga roots penetrate far into the soil to find deep moisture. The roots also harbour bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and thus help deal with the very old, nutrient poor soils the species grows in.

[hide]Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Acacia aneura, F. v. M. Mulga. A shrub with terete branches lined with gum along the longitudinal fissures: phyll. rigid, with oblique point, varying from lanceolate-falcate to long-linear or almost terete on the same plant, 1-3 in. long, 1/24in. wide; no prominent nerves, but distinctly striate under a lens: fls. in spikes (which may be single or in pairs), 1/2-3/4in. long, 5-merous; calyx narrow spatulate, not half so long as petals; peduncles less than 1/4in. long: pods flat, oblique, with a narrow wing at suture and recurved point at apex, 1-1 1/2 in. long, nearly 1/2in. wide; seeds nearly transverse, marked by a minute horseshoe; funicle not encircling seed but with 2 or 3 short thick folds CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Varieties

There are a number of recognised varieties:

• A. a. var. aneura
• A. a. var. argentea
• A. a. var. fuliginea
• A. a. var. intermedia
• A. a. var. macrocarpa
• A. a. var. major
• A. a. var. microcarpa
• A. a. var. pilbarana
• A. a. var. tenuis

Gallery

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  Mulga woodland. The tallest trees in this photograph are approximately 7 m.
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  photo 1
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  photo 2
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  photo 3

External links

• w:Acacia aneura. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Acacia aneura QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)