Acacia Uncifolia – Coast Wirilda seeds

Acacia Uncifolia

Common name(s): Coast Wirilda

Height, Width: 5–10 m high

Plant Type: Bushy shrub or tree.

Flowering Period: Sometimes year-round but mostly November to February.

A tall, hairless shrub or small tree with reddish, angular branchlets and erect or spreading phyllodes (flattened stems that resemble leaves). Leaves: The leaves (phyllodes) are narrow and linear, often ash-green and smooth. They are between 6–12 cm long and 3–15 mm broad with a blunt tip that is usually bent backwards and ends in a short, hooked point. Flowers: The flowers are small, bright yellow and arranged in spherical heads that are arranged in racemes (succession of flowers, the oldest at the base).  The pods are brown, thin, straight and flattened between 6–20 cm long and 6–10 mm wide. The seeds have reddish stalks (funicles). Acacia uncifolia has previously been known as Acacia retinodes and Acacia retinodes var. uncifolia.

Derivation of Name:

Acacia; Greek, a derivative from the name akakia referring to a thorny wattle on the Nile River in Egypt. Uncifolia; from the foliage having a distinctly uncinate tip.

Uses:

Acacia uncifolia is known to resprout from rhizomes (underground stems) and germinate after fire from soil-stored seed. Coast Wirilda is a common host to the Wire-leaf Mistletoe, a local native mistletoe. The plant was used as a fish poison by Wadawurrung. Food (flowers, seeds and seed pods), yellow dye (from the flowers), green dye (pods) and wood. The tree’s bark had limited use in tanning, primarily for sheepskin. The seed was roasted and ground, giving a brown mustard colour and a nutty coffee-like flavour. The flowers have a similar flavour when dried.

Seeds:

Enough for you to successfully grow between 50-100 plants. Your seeds are of the same stock we use to grow our native plants in the nursery. The success of germination varies with open-pollinated, wild-collected seeds and after 3 years of consistently growing these species in the local area, I have selected the amount of seed you need to successfully grow between 50-100 plants yourself. These seeds are collected seasonally and with sincere cultural and ecological respect. Ordering a quantity according to this scale rather than ordering individual seeds is a better representation of sustainable seed harvesting and success for the grower.

Propagation and maintenance notes:

Pour hot water over seeds & submerge for 24 hours.

Sow in seed raising mix 5-15mm deep.

Keep warm and moist.

Germination: 4-10 weeks at 12-35oC.

Packet of 100-200 seeds.

Larger quantities are available.

PROPAGATION NOTES:

For great results refrigerate your seeds for 1-2 weeks before sowing. This emulates an over-wintering effect that helps with germination rates.

Sow seeds in a native-specific potting mix.

A good general rule to follow is to sow seeds at a depth relative to the size of the seed.

(Eucalyptus seeds require a light dusting of soil as their seeds are usually tiny. Warrigal Greens require a 50mm to 100mm depth.)

Keep moist, water daily until germination in 2-8 weeks at a minimum of 15° Celsius.

Reduce your watering amount once germination has occurred.

Sow at any time of the year.