Family:

Fabaceae

Acacia pendula

Boree

Other Names: Weeping Myall, Myall.

Name Origin:

pendula – From Latin pendulus, pendulous or hanging, referring to habit.

Regional Subspecies:

Occurrence:

Regional:

Mainly west of Olympic Highway on lower country and plains.

Australia:

Qld, NSW, Vic.

Habitat:

Major river floodplains, and the Riverine Plain, sometimes as dominant species on heavy clay soils. Often in large stands.

Habit:

Erect or spreading tree, 5-13 m high. Rounded grey-green crown of conspicuously drooping ‘leaves’ and branchlets. Fissured grey bark.

Site Preference:

Good soils — rich alluvial, clays or black soils with adequate ground water. Frost resistant.

Characteristics:

Relatively slow-growing. Relatively palatable to livestock. During drought trees lopped for fodder. Coppices, although very old trees damaged by lopping and may die. Prone to use by the Bag-shelter moth, which occasionally kills trees. Suitable for fire-prone areas.

Flowering:

Golden-yellow, mainly summer to autumn. Irregular, depending on season.

Seed Collection:

Early Oct to Jan.

Propagation:

From seed (6-28 viable seeds per gram). Immerse seeds in hot water at 90°C for about one minute, before drying and sowing.

Regeneration:

From seed if livestock fenced out. Coppices after fire.

VALUES:

Shade & Shelter:

Useful medium-level cover in windbreaks.

Land Protection:

Legume — improves soil fertility through ‘fixing’ nitrogen.

Wildlife:

Excellent habitat. Provides useful supplies of pollen. Often eaten by Procession caterpillars.

Seeds eaten by parrots.

Fuel:

Excellent. Was used extensively.

Timber:

Reasonable quality. Hard, heavy, dark and attractively marked, with violet-like fragrance. Used for fence posts and manufacturing trinket boxes and similar items.

First Nations:

Boomerangs made from wood.

Ornamental:

Very attractive ornamental, due to weeping grey foliage.

Other:

Valuable drought fodder.