Acacia kempeana

Wanderrie wattle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	A. kempeana
Binomial name
Acacia kempeana F.Muell.
Range of Acacia kempeana

Acacia kempeana (Acacia or ακακία (akakia) from the Greek word Akis for thorn and kempeana after Pastor Kempe, co-founder of Lutheran Mission at Hermannburg-Ntaria in 1877), commonly known as wanderrie wattle, witchetty bush or granite wattle, is a shrub in subfamily Mimosoideae of family Fabaceae. Endemic to Australia, it is widely distributed through arid and semi-arid inland areas of Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

Description

Wanderrie wattle grows as a´´ spreading shrub with many stems, to a height of about four metres. Like most Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. These are a bright green colour, flat, up to nine centimetres long and 1½ centimetres wide. The flowers are yellow, and held in cylindrical clusters between one and two centimetres long. The pods are papery, about seven centimetres long and 1½ centimetres wide.

Uses

The common name "witchetty bush" refers to the fact that Australian Aborigines obtained witchetty grubs from the roots. The bush also provided edible gum and seeds.

References

• "Acacia kempeana". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
• "Acacia kempeana". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.
• Mitchell, A. A. and Wilcox, D. G. (1994). Arid Shrubland Plants of Western Australia (Second and Enlarged ed.). Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1-875560-22-X.
• Moore, P. (2005). A Guide to Plants of Inland Australia (First ed.). New Holland Publishers. ISBN 978-1-876334-86-4.