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Open spreading shrub or tree to 8 metres, capable of regenerating by root suckers. Bark grey but fissured at base of trunks.
Seeds shiny dark brown to black, occasionally light tawny brown.
A common wattle dominant in the north of the Peninsula often forming dense thickets in red sand with spinifex.
Bardi name = djarbayi or wanggay. Trunks of young trees used to make spears and boomerangs; green pods cooked in hot ashes and seeds eaten. These are notorious for causing flatulence and bad breath. Mature black seeds are pounded into flour, mixed with water and eaten as a paste, or cooked as a damper. Edible gum, bark used to make short-lived string; small green twigs with ends squashed used to spoon out honey from native beehives.
The common name is Wongai which is an anglicised form of the Aboriginal dialect for spear wattle.
Acacia tumida is reported as possessing nearly
all the attributes to make it a most useful food source for people
living in subtropical/tropical dry zones. Acacia is the
fastest growing Australian wattle in the Sahelian zone of West
Africa, typically averaging more than 1 metre per year height
growth in early years. Many of these plants have been grown
from seed collected at Cape Leveque.
When mass flowerings occur, the air is heavily scented with a sweet perfume. The pollen can cause hay fever.
Flowering: April
- August - (2007 July)
Fruiting: September, October.
(this photo is taken in August)
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