{"slug":"acacia-auriculiformis","scientific_name":"Acacia auriculiformis","common_names":["Earleaf acacia","Australian wattle","Akashmoni","Northern black wattle","Earpod wattle"],"family":"Fabaceae","type":"broadleaf_evergreen","mature_height_m":20,"mature_spread_m":10,"growth_rate":"fast","lifespan_years":40,"hardiness_zones":null,"sun":"full","water":"low","soil":"Most common on clay but grows on calcareous sand, cracking clay, seasonally waterlogged, alkaline and saline soils (pH 4.3-9)","native_range":"Native to northern Australia (Queensland and the Northern Territory), Papua New Guinea and the Maluku and Papua provinces of Indonesia; planted across South and South-East Asia and Africa.","description":"A fast, often multi-stemmed evergreen wattle of 6 to 30 m with sickle-shaped leaf-like phyllodes, yellow flower spikes and twisted ear-shaped pods. It fixes nitrogen and grows on the worst laterite, mine spoil and saline soils, which is why Indian social forestry planted it by the million in West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and the south for fuelwood and pulp. Critics note its brittle limbs, allelopathic litter and the way it crowds out native regeneration; Florida lists it as a Category I invasive, but no Indian state lists it officially.","care":"Plant at the start of the rains at 2 to 4 m spacing; seedlings want half shade at first then full sun. Prune lower branches early and remove multiple leaders if a straight stem is wanted. Branches snap in storms, so keep clear of roofs. Coppices weakly but pollards well. Rust and root rot are occasional; a beetle girdles young stems.","benefits":["nitrogen_fixing","fast_canopy","drought_tolerant","salt_tolerant","erosion_control","pollinators","flood_tolerant"],"uses":["reforestation","timber","windbreak","agroforestry"],"cautions":["invasive_elsewhere","weak_wood","heavy_litter","short_lived"],"image_url":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Acacia_auriculiformis_flowers.jpg","image_credit":"Wikimedia Commons, file Acacia_auriculiformis_flowers.jpg (see file page for author and licence)","sources":["https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=10","https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Acacia_auriculiformis.PDF","https://plant-directory.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/acacia-auriculiformis","https://www.floridainvasives.org/plant-list/2025-invasive-plant-species/","https://www.gbif.org/species/2981001"],"data_note":null,"updated_at":"2026-11-08T01:00:46.205Z","page_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/acacia-auriculiformis","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/acacia-auriculiformis.md","regions":[{"country":"AU","region":"NT","locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/2981001"},{"country":"AU","region":"QLD","locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/2981001"},{"country":"ID","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":"Maluku and Papua","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/2981001"},{"country":"PG","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/2981001"},{"country":"IN","region":"AP","locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF","source_url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=10"},{"country":"IN","region":"KA","locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF","source_url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=10"},{"country":"IN","region":"OR","locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF","source_url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=10"},{"country":"IN","region":"TN","locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF","source_url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=10"},{"country":"IN","region":"WB","locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Planted on a huge scale in social forestry; no official invasive listing found","source_url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=10"},{"country":"TH","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/2981001"},{"country":"VN","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Major plantation species; introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/2981001"},{"country":"US","region":"FL","locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"FISC Category I (Central and South Florida); UF/IFAS advises against planting","source_url":"https://plant-directory.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/acacia-auriculiformis"}],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}