Waddywood (Acacia peuce), Uses and Properties

Waddywood, also called acacia peuce, has the same 4,500 lbf Janka rating. The central part of Australia is home to this rare and endangered species.

Aboriginal people call a fight with sticks a “waddy,” and settlers and Aboriginal people use wood from waddy trees to make tools and weapons. The wood has been used for fence posts because it doesn’t attract termites.

Acacia peuce is a type of tree that grows only in central Australia. It is also called Birdsville wattle, waddy, waddi, or waddy-wood.

The single, pale yellow flowers are not very noticeable, and the pods are large (up to 5×20 cm), flat, and made of paper. They are large and flat (6–14 mm long, 4–8.5 mm wide). They are dull, dark brown to black, and don’t have arils, which would help them spread.

The tree grows in open, dry plains that get less than 150 millimeters (5.9 inches) of rain a year. They grow on shallow sand aprons over gibber or clay slopes and plains, between longitudinal dunes, or on alluvial flats between temporary waterways.

Pastoralists used the tree to make fenceposts and stockyards that were very strong and didn’t get eaten by termites. After being cut for posts, stumps grow back quickly.

Geography

The Acacia peuce, also called the Waddy-wood, Waddy, and waddi, is one of Australia’s rarest trees because it only grows in three places.

The Waddy-wood (Acacia peuce) is only found in Central Australia. It grows on the western and eastern margins of the Simpson Desert, at Andado Station in the Northern Territory (approximately 230 km southeast of Alice Springs), and in Queensland’s Birdsville and Boulia.

At Andado Station, the Waddy-wood is protected in the Acacia peuce-only Mac Clarke (Acacia peuce) Conservation Reserve, NT.

Sustainability

Neither the CITES Appendices nor the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species includes this particular wood species. On the other hand, Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act lists it as a vulnerable species that needs to be protected.

Waddywood Hardness

Waddy wood is a hardwood that is highly sought after. This is because of how nice the wood grain looks and how well it stands up to wear and rot. It is 23% harder than oak, a highly sturdy wood.

Waddy Wood identification

The wood is very hard and dense, and the heartwood is a dark purple color. The trunk and branches have a grey-brown bark that is rough and fibrous.

Trees that are young and saplings have a coniferous habit and can take three years to reach a height of one meter (three feet) (3 ft). Some may live longer than 500 years.

Simple axillary inflorescences are held up by peduncles that are 12 to 15 mm (0.47 to 0.59 in) long.

The heads of the inflorescence are round and have 5 flowers each. The flowers, which are pale yellow, bloom in the spring and autumn, frequently after periods of heavy rain.

After flowering, this species makes long, flat pods that feel like paper and have large, flat seeds.

Color and appearance

The heartwood is dark reddish brown or purple-brown, and sometimes it looks almost black. The edges of the light yellow sapwood are very clear.

Straight grain and a homogeneous, medium-density texture can be found. It may be mistaken for gidgee (Acacia cambagei) or pink gidgee (A. crombiei) because it has a very dark purple heartwood, is very dense, and the heartwood glows. Most of the time, waddywood will have more parenchyma and slightly smaller pores.

Heartwood glows under a black light, and the bark of a waddywood tree is rough and grey-brown.

Flower

Simple axillary inflorescences are held up by peduncles that are 12 to 15 mm (0.47 to 0.59 in) long.

The heads of the inflorescence are round and have 5 flowers each. The flowers are pale yellow and usually bloom in the fall and spring after heavy rain.

Waddy wood Fruit/seeds

After flowering, this species makes long, flat pods that feel like paper and have large, flat seeds.

Rot resistance

Given its past use as fence posts, the wood is assumed to be durable.

Strength and Durability

With a Janka hardness of 4,630 lbf, the wood is hard to cut by hand or machine. But the finished product looks good and will last a long time. Even though carpenters don’t like it because it’s hard to work with, the customer will always be happy.

Allergies and toxicity

Aside from the health risks that come with wood dust in general, no other health problems have been linked to Waddywood (though this may be due to the rarity of the tree itself).

Workability

Due to their high density, it isn’t easy to work with hand or machine tools. Reportedly turns and finishes well.

Waddywood uses

Because Acacia peuce doesn’t rot, it’s used to make fence posts. It’s also popular for making turned objects and can be fun to carve and use for other small decorative items.

Aboriginal Australians use the tree’s wood to make waddi clubs, which is how the tree got its common name.

Waddywood Related Species

Raspberry jam (Acacia acuminata)

Acacia acuminata is a tree in the family Fabaceae. It is also called mangart and jam. It only lives in Western Australia and can be found all over the state’s southwest.

It can grow up to 10 meters tall in ideal conditions, but it grows no higher than 5 meters in most places. The wood is strong and hard, has a pretty red color, and has a tight grain.

It has been used a lot for fence posts, decorative items, and things that need to hold a lot of weight, like sheave blocks.

Mulga (Acacia aneura)

Acacia aneura is a common plant that grows in most types of inland Australian vegetation. The shape, height, and shape of the leaves and seed pods of mulga trees vary a lot. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species says the plant is of “Least Concern” (2013).

Mulga has changed a lot to live in the Australian desert. It has thick-skinned phyllodes, like many Acacia species, so it loses less water. Mulga roots go deep into the soil to find deep water and help deal with soils that don’t have enough nutrients.

Brown salwood (Acacia aulacocarpa)

An Australian shrub or tree in the Fabaceae family is called Acacia aulacocarpa. It is also called New Guinea wattle or golden flowered salwood.

It lives in northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, and some parts of Indonesia. It has phyllodes instead of true leaves, like most Acacias.

Earpod wattle (Acacia auriculiformis)

Acacia auriculiformis is a tree that stays green all year and grows between 15 and 30 meters (49 and 98 feet) tall. The trunk is bent, and the bark is split up in the middle. It has thick leaves, an open crown that spreads out, and leaves that are 4–6 inches long and 1.5–2.5 centimeters (5/8–1 inch) wide.

Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana)

The shrub or tree Acacia baileyana, often known as Cootamundra wattle, belongs to the genus Acacia. The name of the species in science is a tribute to the botanist Frederick Manson Bailey. It has taken over many parts of Victoria and is now considered a weed. Wattles have been brought to New Zealand in large numbers.

Gidgee (Acacia cambagei)

Acacia cambagei, commonly known as gidgee, stinking wattle, or gidjiirr in English, is an endemic tree of Australia. It is found primarily in semiarid and arid Queensland but extends into the Northern Territory, South Australia, and north-western New South Wales. The plants in gidgee communities are similar to those in brigalow forests.

Bendee (Acacia catenulata)

Acacia catenulata, also called bendee, is a tree that grows only in arid parts of Australia. It belongs to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. The trees grow to about 12 meters tall, and the trunks are about 400 mm in diameter. Botanist Cyril Tenison White was the first person to write about it in 1944.

Formosan koa (Acacia confusa)

Acacia confusa is a tree that grows back every year. It is from South-East Asia. It reaches 15 m and weighs about 0.75 g/cm3. In Taiwan, support beams for underground mines were made from wood. At its peak, Taiwan sent more than 1,000 containers of Taiwan acacia to China.

Pink gidgee (Acacia crombiei)

Acacia crombiei is a shrub that grows in central Queensland. It is often called pink gidgee. The tree grows to about 10 m (33 ft) and looks like Acacia cana or Acacia cambagei in its growth pattern.

Creekline miniritchie (Acacia cyperophylla)

A species of tree in the Fabaceae family is the Acacia cyperophylla. Red mulga and creekline miniritchie are other names for it.

The species lives in both dry and mostly dry parts of Central Australia. It has phyllodes instead of true leaves, like most Acacia species.

Silver wattle (Acacia dealbata)

The silver wattle, blue wattle, or mimosa, also called Acacia dealbata, is a fast-growing evergreen tree or shrub growing up to 30 m tall. The leaves have two leaflets, are glaucous blue-green to silvery grey, and range in size from 1 to 12 cm (and occasionally up to 17 cm).

The flowers grow in large racemose inflorescences that are made up of many smaller, bright yellow, globose flowerheads with 13–42 flowers each.

Green wattle (Acacia decurrens)

Eastern New South Wales is home to the perennial tree or shrub Acacia decurrens. It is also referred to as early green wattle or black wattle.

It blooms in July, August, and September and can reach heights of 2–15 m (7–50 ft). The bark is brown to dark grey, smooth to split along the length deeply, and has flange marks that are easy to see. This plant has become naturalized in many countries, including most of Australia.

Brown lancewood (Acacia doratoxylon)

Acacia doratoxylon, also called currawang, lancewood, spearwood, or coast myall, is a shrub or tree that grows in eastern and southeastern Australia.

It belongs to the subgenus Juliflorae and the genus Acacia. It blooms in the north from August to September and in the south from September to November. It has golden flowers.

Ironwood wattle (Acacia excelsa)

Acacia excelsa is a type of tree that grows only in northeastern Australia. It is also called ironwood, rosewood, bunkerman, and doodlallie. The shrub or tree usually grows between 3 and 15 m tall (9.8 to 49.2 ft). It has hard, cracked, dark grey bark and branchlets that are smooth.

Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla)

Acacia harpophylla, also called brigalow, is a tree that grows only in Australia. It lives from the central and coastal parts of Queensland to the northern parts of New South Wales.

Brigalow trees are most similar to the smaller gidgee (Acacia cambagei), but the wood of the gidgee is slightly denser.

Yarran (Acacia homalophylla)

A little tree known as the yarran, Acacia homalophylla can be found in eastern Australia. It has a clean stem, leafy head, a narrow, usually straight set of leaves, and yellow flowers in balls.

Its bark is a dark gray color and is rough. The leaves can be used as both food and animal fodder.

Lightwood (Acacia implexa)

Acacia implexa is a fast-growing Australian tree known as lightwood or hickory wattle. Wood is used to make furniture because it is strong and has a smooth finish. The tree was planted as a crop in South Africa; however, it is now regarded as a weed there.

Koa (Acacia koa)

A type of flowering tree in the Fabaceae family is the acacia koa. It can only be found on the Hawaiian Islands and is the second most common tree there. In Hawaiian, the word for it is koa, which means valiant, bold, fearless, or warrior.

The number of koa trees has been cut down by grazing and logging. Koa trees cut down on radiative cooling, which keeps hia lehua seedlings from getting hurt by frost.

Ancient Hawaiians used the koa tree’s trunk to make canoes and surfboards. Trey Anastasio of Phish plays a koa hollowbody Languedoc guitar.

Koai’a (Acacia koaia)

A tree known as the acacia koaia exclusively grows in Hawaii. A tree known as the acacia koaia exclusively grows in Hawaii. It looks a lot like koa (A. koa) and is sometimes thought to be the same species. There might be an intermediate population on Kaua’i’s north shore, although the relationships are unknown.

Curracabah (Acacia leiocalyx)

Acacia leiocalyx, often known as “black wattle,” grows throughout Queensland, Australia, as far south as Sydney. It only grows and lives for a few years to be 6–7 m (20–23 ft) tall with a trunk about 180 mm (7 in) in diameter.

Mangium (Acacia mangium)

Acacia mangium comes from Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Maluku Islands to the east. The black wattle is also known as the hickory wattle and the forested mangrove. In 1806 Carl Ludwig Willdenow was the first to write about it. He said it lived in the Moluccas.

Black wattle (Acacia mearnsii)

Acacia mearnsii, also called black wattle or green wattle, is a flowering plant in the Fabaceae family. It is also known as black wattle or green wattle. It is often a straight tree with smooth bark, two-leafed leaves, and spherical clusters of fragrant pale yellow or cream-colored flowers. It is seen as an invasive species in other parts of the world.

Australian blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon)

Acacia melanoxylon, also called the Australian blackwood, is a type of Acacia that grows naturally in the southeastern part of Australia. The tree grows to about 20 meters (66 feet) tall, and its trunk is about 150 cm (59 inches) in diameter.

Myall (Acacia pendula)

The weeping myall, or Acacia pendula, is an Australian wattle species. It is also known as the weeping myall. It typically grows to a height of 5 to 13 m (16 to 43 ft) and a width of 4 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft) (13 to 20 ft). Native people in New South Wales and Queensland called it “Boree” and “Balaar.”

Golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha)

The golden wattle, or Acacia pycnantha, is a tree that grows in southeastern Australia. It is in the family Fabaceae. It grows to a height of 8 m (26 ft), and instead of true leaves, it has phyllodes, which are flattened leaf stalks. It grows in the understory of eucalyptus forests in southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

Spear wattle (Acacia rhodoxylon)

Acacia rhodoxylon is a tree native to Australia’s northeastern region. Rosewood, ringy rosewood, and spear wattle are other names for it. Its bark is dark brown to gray and comes off in small, curved pieces, like minni-ritchi species. Like most Acacia species, it possesses phyllodes rather than real leaves.

Cooba (Acacia salicina)

Acacia salicina is a non-thorny species of an Australian Acacia tree. It can grow up to 45 feet tall and looks like a big bush or a small evergreen tree. The tree has shiny, black seeds with a red aril that looks like an extra limb.

Shirley’s lancewood (Acacia shirleyi)

Acacia shirleyi is a type of Acacia tree native to Queensland and the Northern Territory in Australia. It is also known as Lancewood. It grows into a 15-meter-tall (49-foot-tall) tree with dark grey or black, stringy bark and blue-grey leaves. The natives burnt the wood and used it to make spears for hunting.

River cooba (Acacia stenophylla)

Acacia stenophylla is a species of Acacia often known as the shoestring acacia. It is a native Australian evergreen tree in the Fabaceae family that grows 4-20 m (13-66 ft) tall, with branches at the trunk up to 1 m (3.3 ft) long. It belongs to the family Fabaceae and can be anywhere from 4 to 20 m (13 to 66 ft) tall, with stems about 1 m (3.3 ft) long.