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January 2010
In the ASG newsletter107 from Dec 2009 a new book is announced:
Wattles of Tasmania, by Marion H Simmons OAM.
Published 2009 Marion H Simmons
December 2009
more and more specimens of the KEW-Herbarium have been scanned and can now be studied on the web: http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/navigator.do
Type in `Acacia` and more than 300 hits appear, many of them with a picture of the herbarium specimen.
November 2009
There are four articles in Nuytsia 18 (2008) from Bruce Maslin et.al. describing 16 new Acacia species, 5 in subgenus Acacia (formerly Phyllodineae) and 11 in subgenus Juliflorae, bringing my worldwide total to 1.387 Acacia species s.l.(including Acaciella).
October 2009
The French Photographer Cedric Pollet has studiesd tree barks for over ten years. His photos are now available also in a German book: Rinde - Die Wunderwelt der Bäume entdecken, Verlag Ulmer 2009, ISBN 978-3-8001-5911-6.
There are only two pictures in the book which were photographed by others: One of it Acacia cyperophylla by Bruce Maslin.
The wonderful book was originally published in French in 2008 by les Editions Eugen Ulmer, Paris.
September 2009
Wattles of the Pilbara: Bruce Maslin and Stephen van Leewen prepared the practical illustrated field guide, covering 32 species of the more than 80 Acacia species found in the Pilbara region.
August 2009
Cold hardiness of Acacia in Europe.
Comments in the 2009 book from KEW publishing “ New Trees; Recent introductions to Cultivation”:
”Acacia dealbata subsp. subalpina - USDA hardiness zone 8-9; ... but in the UK at least its supposed advantage has yet to be put to the test, and Hogan (2008) has found that other high-altitude forms from mainland Australia are hardier.”
and Acacia pataczekii from Tasmania: “ ... still grows at KEW near King Williams Temple. It should be possible to grow A. patczekii throughout the maritime and milder parts of our area, given a well drained sunny side!.
July 2009: Acacia germanica
As a German, I am certainly interested in the old name Acacia germanica. It was used in former times for Prunus spinosa (Schlehe; “weiße Akazie”), a spiny bush. Dried flowers of Prunus spinosa were sold under Flores Acaciae by chemists. A butterfly and his caterpillar feeding on Prunus spinosa are still called today Thecla acaciae (= Nordmannia acaciae), in German: Akazien-Zipfelfalter.
June 2009
The herbarium collection of the Botanical Garden in Berlin, Germany, includes quite a lot of Acacia specimens, see.
http://www.bgbm.org/BGBM/research/colls/herb/default.htm
May 2009
In the greenhouse of the Botanical Garden of Bochum, Germany there are numerous Australian acacias. Some are marked. The one shown here has no sign. Could it be Acacia saligna?
April 2009
Robinia pseudocacia is well known under the name Acacia. I will not see this popular name disappear.
http://www.2020site.org/trees/acacia.html
March 2009
The Acacia-site from Wikipedia has been greatly improved:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia
February 2009
M. Thulin has found another new species in Somalia: Acacia fumosa. It is closely related to A. ochraea, but differs in its ash grey, smooth and non-flaking bark, densely pubescent leaves, and pink flowers.
January 2009
When you search for Acacia in google you get 8.250.000 hits. The world is fond of this word, using it for all kinds of businesses etc. Only on the second page you find a reference to our interest:
http://asgap.org.au/acacia.html
December 2008
The Acacia Study Group of the APS has collected many pictures of Australian acacias over the years, which are now available for members on a CD. Please contact Bill Aitchinson. I have started to post some of them on this site.
November 2008
during this month I travelled in Costa Rica, north of the capital S. Jose. Out of the 13 species of Acacia s.l. to be found in Costa Rica , I came across three - one of which I had already seen in Yucatan, Mexico. None was in bloom. There was only the occasional leftover fruit or a flower bud.
October 2008
People visiting this website send all kind of questions. Recently I was asked which Acacia species exactly is mentioned in the Bible: Mose 2, 25 10-13. Could it be Acacia nilotica?
Whoever wants to comment, please send me an e.-mail.
September 2008
Please also have a look on the website of the Australian Botanical Gardens:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/acacia/
August 2008:
The Tree Atlas of Namibia is now also accessible on the web:
http://www.biodiversity.org.na/treeatlas/taphome.php
It features good overwiews for all Acacia-species in Namibia, many of which are found throughout Southern Africa.
July 2008
In the Acacia study Group newsletter 101 of the ASP (Association of Australian Societies for Growing Australian Plants) Bill Aitchison discusses the subject “Acacias and Allergies”, see:
http://www.worldwidewattle.com/socgroups/asg/index.php?#published_issues
June 2008
The number of species is still increasing. My personal count of Acacia s.l. (including Vachellia, Aculeiferum, Mariosousa, Acaciella and Phyllodineae) stands at 1370. The latest addition is Acacia uncifolia, which has been elevated from a subspecies of A. retinoides to species level by M.C. O`Leary.
May 2008
The ALUKA-project collects info on African plant species on the web. There are >1600 herbarium samples of acacia shown with an incredible high resolution. Actually the access is still fee of charge. Go to: http://www.aluka.org/
April 2008
on his website, Joe Miller of the University of Iowa, together with D.Seigler, J.Ebinger and L. Scott describes all American acacia according to the new genera. The new genus Mariosousa is thereby documented in detail:
http://ccg.biology.uiowa.edu/jmiller/acaciaID.php
March 2008
The Karroo-complex
Attached please find some thoughts about the status of the differentiation inside the Karroo-group (updated in April)
February 2008
The Dendrological Society of South Africa gives tree numbers to 58 species ( including subspecies and varieties) of Acacia, including some that are endemic to Namibia, in the National List of Indigenous Trees
January 2008
“Acacias” are very common in Europe. Near my home we have an Acacia Street, an Acacia Alleey and an Acacia copse. But in all cases the underlying plants are the Robinias (Robinia pseudoacacia). They have been imported to Europe from America hundreds of years ago for their good timber. But today they sometimes grow like weed along railroads and are then considered intruders.
Comparing Robinias and Acacias, we find some features that are very much alike in both species, especially the spines, the fruit and the rough bark. From afar also the leaves may look alike - although acacias have bipinnate leaves (without a terminal leaflet) and Robinias feature pinnate compound lleaves with a terminal leaflet.
A striking difference is manifest in the flowers. Whereas the visible parts of the flowers in acacias are balls or spikes of (up to 300) stamens, Robinias (black locust) has white (sometimes rose) flowers in drooping racemes showing the petals.
December 2007
The Newsletter Nr 99 of the Acacia Study Group contains a key to Acacia species in Tasmania by Alan M. Gray.
November 2007:
the discussion on the name change of acacia is heating up. Read the article in an South African paper
October 2007:
Did you know, that most of the acacia gum used in the food industry comes from Sudan? and that most acacia gums are traded through Hamburg, Germany?
If you want to learn more about the industrial use of acacia gums, please go to: http://www.foodnavigator.com and enter the key word: acacia gum - and you will find up to date news from the industry.
September 2007: Newsletter no.98 from the Acacia Study Group of the Association of Societies for Growing Australian plants has been released. To receive an electronic copy please contact Esther Bruggemeier, the Group Leader, under wildaboutwattle at iprimus.com.au or look at worldwidewattle:
http://www.worldwidewattle.com under Societies&Groups /ASG
Rosemary Wise has drawn hundreds of excellent detailed pictures of acacia. They can be searched in the Virtual Field Herbarium:
http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/vfh/image/index.php
Please filter by drawings or look at the more than 1000 photographs
August 2007: The discussion re the name change in Acacia s.l. continues:
G.Moore from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in New York :
The handling of the proposal to conserve the name Acacia at the 17th Internnational Botanical Congress - an attempt at minority rule
in: Bothalia 37,1: 109-118 (2007)
July 2007: Looking at old slides from our 1975 Kenya-trip I discovered two pictures of Acacia drepanolobium, which I can use in the article on myrmecophilous acacia.
June 2007: Dr.Lourdes Rico-Arce launches her new book on the American Acacia species (see literature).
May 2007: I discovered the website of Joe Miller and Dave Seigler
April 2007. My trip to Mexico, where I have seen a lot of myrmecophilous acacia
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