Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 3 Western Australia, Series 3
Volume 6
Number 3 May-June, 1957 Article 9
5-1957
The Manna Wattle (Acacia microbotrya Benth) The Manna Wattle (Acacia microbotrya Benth)
C. A. Gardner
Follow this and additional works at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture3
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Gardner, C. A. (1957) "The Manna Wattle (Acacia microbotrya Benth)," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 3: Vol. 6: No. 3, Article 9.
Available at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture3/vol6/iss3/9
This article is brought to you for free and open access by the Agriculture at Digital Library. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 3 by an authorized administrator of Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected].
<ne MANNA WATTLE
By C. A. GARDNER, Government Botanist
{Acacia microbotrya Benth)
r p H E Manna Wattle is an attractive native tree which is worthy of attention for
A several reasons. Perhaps it is best known as the source of "manna gum"—the market value of which has risen from £170 per ton in 1955 to £252 per ton (2s. 3d. per lb.) at the present time.
Apart from t h e yield of gum however, the tree is both decorative and useful when used to provide windbreaks or shade for stock. I t is eminently suitable for planting in areas with a n a n n u a l rainfall between 12 and 20 inches, and its sweetly- scented blossoms, which usually appear in May and June, may some day have com- mercial value for use in the manufacture of perfume.
I n the early days of settlement the bark of the Manna Wattle was often used in home tanning, and the gum was collected for export. Gum prices remained low how- ever until t h e period following World War I.
Like t h e other wattles, the tree is not long-lived, but specimens should survive for from 20 to 30 years under most con- ditions.
Plants are available from the Forests Department nurseries a t a cost of 24s. a dozen or 2s. 3d. a plant. Planting should be carried out as soon as possible after the commencement of t h e winter rains.
DISTRIBUTION
The tree was formerly common in the districts around Toodyay, Northam, York and Beverley a n d eastward to Merredin, and it extends from the Murchison River to t h e vicinity of Gnowangerup.
The Manna Wattle does not occur on the Western Coastal Plain a n d the nearest specimens to P e r t h are to be found on the Northam road between Clackline and Baker's Hill.
As in the case of sandalwood, the n u m - ber of trees h a s been radically reduced owing to farming operations, but many still exist in uncleared areas within the general distribution range of the species.
DESCRIPTION
The Manna Wattle is usually a small, bushy tree about 10 to 16 feet tall, with widely-spreading branches. Much larger specimens were reported from the D a n - darragan district about 1850 by Drum- mond, but these appear to be no longer in existence. The bark of the t r u n k is dark grey or almost black, rough a n d fibrous, and longitudinally fissured; t h a t of the branchlets is smooth and greyish- green.
The foliage is spreading or pendulous, and the leaf varies in shape from n a r r o w - lance-shaped to broad-lance-shaped, much narrower towards the stalk end, and usually three to five inches in length.
The leaf is usually broadest a t or above the middle, a grey-green in colour, with a fairly prominent midrib and veined from this midrib with r a t h e r faint spread- ing veins. When narrow the leaf is some- what sickle-shaped (i.e. curved to one side). The flowers are small in small round heads, these flower-heads being arranged in clusters along a common stalk up to one and a half inches in length. In other words, the flower heads or "balls"
are not solitary, but several "balls" are arranged on a stalk from t h e point where the leaves emerge from the twig. This fact, together with the single vein down t h e middle of the leaf, the small flowers, a n d the flowering season (late April to mid- June) serve to identify t h e tree in t h e bush. Further, the plant occurs most frequently in j a m - t r e e country, or oc- casionally with wandoo, and still less fre- quently with jam and salmon-gum.
The gum is exuded by the plants a t various times of the year, especially in late summer and autumn and to a less 325
MANNA WATTLE {Acacia micrdbotrya Benth)
A—Branchlet showing foliage and flowers; B—Flower head; C—Flower (A—stamens, P—petals, K—calyx) 326
extent in the spring. It appears externally on the trunk and branches in the form of
"tears" or large lumps (sometimes the size of a hen egg) varying in colour from a clear pale yellow to almost red. The red colour is due to tannis which discolour the gum as it passes through the bark, and, as a general rule, the clearer gum is obtained from the smooth upper bark, but is not as prolific there as on the rough bark of the trunk and main branches. As the gum exudes, the lumps increase in size and these are sometimes dissolved by
the winter rains, when the substance be- comes still more discoloured, and eventu- ally reaches the soil as a deep red sub- stance. In dry weather the gum crystallises externally, and may become powdery, while under spring and autumn conditions, especially where protected from the sun, the lumps remain smooth, and break with a clean fracture. It is these smooth lumps of gum which are the most valuable, and the gum when collected should always be free from pieces of bark.
UTILITY
UTILITY BUILDINGS PTY. Ltd.
Box M942 G.P.O., Perth.
Please forward d e t a i l s a n d prices of y o u r r a n g e of F a r m B u i l d i n g s .
I a m I n t e r e s t e d i n a
• Hay B a r n , •*• Storage b h e d , • I m p l e m e n t Shed,
* S h e a r i n g s h e d . NAME
ADDRESS
Implement Sheds
Open Fronted In 20ft., 30ft., 40ft.
Span
• The strongest type of Agricultural Shed on the Market
"Utility" Implement Sheds are a permanent property asset
• Available Steel Framework only, or with Timber, Sheeting, Fixings
Please mention the "Journal of Agriculture, W.A.," when writing to advertisers
DEEP TILLAGE
Do subsoiling or deep ploughing with a minimum of slippage. Get into the field when other machines can't. Operate your tractor through slippery or soft spots. The D2 handles one or two subsoilers pene- trating 20in. to 24in. deep.
SEE THE EXTRA JOBS
you can do with a
CAT D2 TRACTOR
A Caterpillar D2 Tractor handles the ordinary farm jobs with ease and economy—ploughing, disking, seedbed preparation, harvesting. And when these jobs get tougher than ordinary, you begin to see a big difference between a Cat Diesel Tractor and ordinary tractors. But its the toughest
jobs where you see the D2 prove itself! For example . . .
BULLDOZING
Build dams and farm ponds for water control, livestock watering, irrigation or pleas- ure. Fill in gullies and level off hills to improve machinery operation.
CLEAR LAND
Increase your acres of tillable land, improve your range land by push- ing out stumps, trees, brush.
PULL BIG LOADS
Pull larger equipment or several implements at once. Move trees, buildings or rocks. See us for all the facts!
CATERPILLAR
egistered Trade Mark
WIGMORES LIMITED
6 1 3 - 6 1 9 WELLINGTON ST. PERTH PHONE BA 2281
Please mention the "Journal ol Agriculture, W.A.," when writing to advertisers
