Acacia melanoxylon - Acacia à bois noir

Habitat

Exposition

Plein soleil

Humidité

Sol sec à moyen.

Sol

Sol léger à moyen. Nécessite un sol drainant.

pH

Non calcaire

Rusticité

Zone 8

Habitat originel

Wet forests on good soils up to the montane zone[152, 154]. Usually an under-storey tree in Eucalyptus forests[167].

Origine géographique

Australia - New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria. Locally naturalized in S.W. Europe[50].

Comestibilité

• Flowers - cooked [144].
• Rich in pollen, they are often used in fritters .
• The flowers have a penetrating scent [245].

Usages médicinaux

• Antirheumatic [152].

Autres usages

• A yellow dye is obtained from the flowers [168].
• A green dye is obtained from the seed pods [168].
• The extensive root system of this plant helps to prevent soil erosion [200].
• The bark is rich in tannin [152].
• Wood - hard, dark, close grained, high quality, takes a high polish .
• Used for furniture, fittings etc [1, 4, 11, 154, 156, 167].

Culture

• Prefers a sandy loam and a very sunny position [1].
• Prefers a deep moist soil [167].
• Succeeds in a hot dry position [166].
• Succeeds in any good garden soil that is not excessively limey [11].
• Most members of this genus become chlorotic on limey soils [200].
• This is one of the hardier members of the genus, tolerating temperatures down to about -10°c [260].
• It succeeds outdoors in Britain from Dorset westwards, also in south-western Scotland and in Ireland [1, 11].
• However, even in the mildest areas of the country it is liable to be cut back to the ground in excessively cold winters though it can resprout from the base [11].
• It is planted for timber in south-west Europe [50].
• This species produces both phyllodes (basically a flattened stem that looks and acts like a leaf) and true leaves [1, 166].
• The roots are very vigorous and extensive - they often produce suckers[260] and can damage the foundations of buildings [200].
• Ces plantes ont une relation symbiotique avec des bactéries du sol qui forment des nodules sur les racines et fixent l'azote atmosphérique .
• Une partie de cet azote est utilisé par la plante mais une partie est disponible aux autres plantes poussant à proximité [200].

Propagation

• Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a sunny position in a warm greenhouse [1].
• Stored seed should be scarified, pre-soaked for 12 hours in warm water and then sown in a warm greenhouse in March .
• The seed germinates in 3 - 4 weeks at 25°c [133].
• As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots and grow them on in a sunny position in the greenhouse for their first winter .
• Plant them out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts, and consider giving them some protection from the cold for their first winter outdoors .
• Cuttings of half-ripe wood with a heel, July/August in individual pots in a frame [78].
• Overwinter in a greenhouse for the first winter and plant out in their permanent positions in late spring or early summer .
• Fair percentage [78].