Black Wattle

Black Wattle

Acacia mearnsii (Racosperma mearnsil)

Origin: South-east Australia; naturalized in Kenya

A round or shapeless tree with a trunk that bends when grown outside plantations, measuring 2-15 metres. Fast growing but short-lived, the Black wattles bark is smooth green, later black, grooved, and split to produce resinous gum. Has leaves twice-divided, dull green, with exceedingly little leaflets and glands dispersed over the upper surface of the leaf stalk. Flowers are pale yellow, fragrant and in little circular heads. Fruit consists of many pods with 3-12 joints that dry dull brown and can be straight or twisted. Seeds are tiny and black.

Uses include firewood, charcoal, poles, posts, tool handles, medicine, fodder, decorative, windbreak, fibre (bark), gum, and tannin.

Notes: A tree suitable for forests but shouldn’t be intercropped because it competes for nutrients and sunlight. Introduced to Kenya for its tannin-rich bark, which is used to tan leather. It is also valued for its rapid growth as a firewood source. It suppresses undergrowth and is hence unsuitable for erosion-prone locations.