3060

11: Auxiliary plants

Acacia oraria F. Muell.

LEGUMINOSAE - MIMOSOIDEAE

Racosperma orarium (F. Muell.) Pedley.

Indonesia: suli, kayu besi (Timor).

Australia (east coast of Queensland), Indonesia (Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali and Nusa Tenggara): Alor, Flores, Timor).

Suitable for soil protection and as fire-break in savanna areas and for the control of Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeuschel. The heavy and hard wood is locally used for house posts.

Spreading tree up to 10 m tall, stem up to 50 cm in diameter, bark fibrous and fissured. Phyllodes alternate, thick, obovate-falcate, 4.5—11 cm x 1—4.5 cm, apex obtuse, base attenuate, with 3 prominent, longitudinal main veins. Inflorescence a globose head, 3—5 mm in diameter, arranged in axillary or terminal 3—5-branched racemes; flowers yellow, 5-merous. Pod flat, twisted or coiled when fully mature, 12 cm x 1—1.5 cm, brown. Seed black with large red translucent funicle. Acacia oraria often occurs along rivers and in coastal regions, up to 700 m altitude. It has been less successful in trials for fuelwood on poor soils in Java, and for weed control in teak plantations; its use has been restricted by its susceptibility to Corticium salmonicolor.

[8]Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr., R.C., 1963–1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. 647, 641, 761 pp.
[51]Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950–. Series 1. Volume 1, 4–. Kluwer, Dordrecht & Flora Malesiana Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands.
[65]Hart, H.M.J., 1931. Gemengde djaticulturen. deel II [Mixed teak plantations. part II]. Mededeelingen No 24. Proefstation voor het Boschwezen, Buitenzorg, Dutch East Indies. 400 pp.
[87]Kramer, F., 1925. Kultuurproeven met industrie-, konstruktie- en luxe-houtsoorten [Management trials on industrial, construction and luxury timber trees]. Mededeelingen No 12. Proefstation voor het Boschwezen, Buitenzorg, Dutch East Indies. 99 pp.
[157]Turnbull, J.W., 1986. Multipurpose Australian trees and shrubs. Lesser-known species for fuelwood and agroforestry. ACIAR Monograph No 1. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, Australia. 316 pp.

M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen

Sosef, M.S.M. & van der Maesen, L.J.G., 1997. Acacia oraria F. Muell.. In: Faridah Hanum, I & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (Editors): Plant Resources of South-East Asia No 11: Auxiliary plants. PROSEA Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Database record: prota4u.org/prosea