# Earleaf acacia (Acacia auriculiformis)

> 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.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/acacia-auriculiformis · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Australian wattle, Akashmoni, Northern black wattle, Earpod wattle
- Family: Fabaceae
- Type: Broadleaf evergreen
- Mature height: 20 m; spread 10 m
- Growth: Fast growing; lives about 40 years
- Light: Full sun
- Water: Low water
- 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.

**Benefits:** Fixes nitrogen, Fast canopy, Drought tolerant, Salt tolerant, Holds soil, Pollinators, Flood tolerant

**Good for:** Reforestation, Timber, Windbreak, Agroforestry

**Watch out for:** Invasive elsewhere, Weak wood, Heavy litter, Short lived

## 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.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** NT, Australia; QLD, Australia; Indonesia (Maluku and Papua); Papua New Guinea
- **Adapted:** AP, India (Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF); KA, India (Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF); OR, India (Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF); TN, India (Planted widely; exotic per ICRAF); WB, India (Planted on a huge scale in social forestry; no official invasive listing found); Thailand (Introduced per WCVP); Vietnam (Major plantation species; introduced per WCVP)
- **Invasive:** FL, United States (FISC Category I (Central and South Florida); UF/IFAS advises against planting)

## 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