The yarran is a small tree called Acacia homalophylla that grows in the eastern half of Australia. India and Pakistan have also started using it.
5–10 m high tree. Branchlets are pointed at the ends and have a few hairs or are smooth. Phyllodes are narrowly elliptic-oblong, straight or slightly curved, 4–11 cm long, (3–) 4–7 (–13) mm wide, curved-acute, coriaceous, glabrous or minutely appressed puberulous, and have many closely parallel obscure nerves.
Inflorescences with two or three heads; raceme axes 1–5 mm long; peduncles 2–5 mm long, sparsely to densely appressed-puberulous.
Heads globose, 4–5 mm in diameter, with 20–30 golden flowers; bracteoles oblong to obovate. Flowers have five petals, and 1/3 to 2/3 of the sepals are joined together.
Pods are straight or slightly curved, up to 9 cm long and 3–5 mm wide. They are chartaceous or coriaceous, have longitudinal nerves, are usually hairless, and have thickened edges. The seeds are long, elliptical, and dark brown. The aril is small and at the top.
Widespread. It can be found in central southern Queensland between Yaraka and Duaringa, on the north and central western slopes, western and far western plains, and just across the Murray River in central New South Wales. Into Vic.
The name is probably because the phyllodes are flat and don’t look like they have any veins.
When Bentham first wrote about this species, he used the spelling “omalophylla.” In 1864, he changed it to “homalophylla” in his book Flora of Australiense. Some authors and botanists still use the old spelling.
Yarran is sold under other names
Common Name(s): Yarran
Aesthetics
No data is available.
Availability
Readily available within its natural range, though difficult to find elsewhere.
Pricing
Prices should be low for domestic hardwood.
Geography
It is found in a few places in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. New South Wales is west of Muswellbrook and Emmaville. It has brown, earthy soils with communities of Casuarina cristata, rosewood, and box trees.
Maintenance
No data is available.
Sustainability
This type of wood is not on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species or the CITES Appendices.
Is Yarran wood hard or softwood
Wood type: hardwood.
Yarran wood stain
No data is available.
Yarran Wood identification
Acacia homalophylla has a clean trunk and leafy top, dark gray, rough bark, narrow, usually straight leaves, and yellow flowers in balls. The leaves can be eaten and are used to feed animals. It usually blooms from August to October but can also bloom in November.
It makes gum. Its wood, called myall-wood, is strong, smells good, and is a dark color. The natives use it to make spears.
The tree or shrub can reach a height of 7 m (23 ft), has a habit that can stand up or spread out, and often sends out new shoots. It has smooth branchlets outside but can be hairy on new growth and angled at the ends. It has phyllodes instead of true leaves, like most Acacia species.
The grey-green phyllodes are evergreen and have a shape that is either narrowly elliptic, oblanceolate, or more or less linear. They can be straight or slightly curved. They are 4 to 11 cm (1.6 to 4.3 in) long and 4 to 7 mm (0.16 to 0.28 in) wide. They have many longitudinal veins that are usually hard to see, but sometimes there are three or more that stand out.
In the axils, the inflorescences grow in groups of one to three. They have round flower heads that are 4 to 6 mm in diameter and have 20 to 30 bright yellow flowers (0.16 to 0.24 in).
After the flowers die, papery to thin leathery seed pods form. These pods are straight and flat and can be up to 7 cm (2.8 in) long and 3 to 7 mm (0.1 to 0.28 in) wide (0.12 to 0.28 in).
Color and appearance
No data is available.
Endgrain
Ring-porous, with 2–4 rows of large, single earlywood pores and many small to very small latewood pores in a radial pattern.
Abundant tyloses, clear growth rings, large rays can be seen without a lens, and diffuse-in-aggregates apotracheal parenchyma (short lines between rays).
Flower
Inflorescences of one to three flowers in the axils of the leaves or on an axillary axis up to 2 mm long or sometimes up to 15 mm long; peduncles 2–5 mm long and very finely hairy; heads globose, with 20–30 flowers, 4–6 mm in diameter, and bright yellow.
Fruit
Except where the seeds are, pods are straight and flat.
Usually 3–5 mm wide and up to 7 cm long, with little or no space between the seeds (sometimes up to 7 mm wide).
Firmly papery to thinly leathery, finely hairy; seeds longitudinal to somewhat oblique; funicle filiform or expanded toward seed.
Grain and texture
No data is available.
leaves
Narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate to linear, straight to slightly curved, 4-11 cm long, typically 4-7 mm wide (range: 3-13 mm wide), occasionally glaucous, initially typically minutely appressed-hairy, becoming glabrous, longitudinal veins numerous, obscure, occasionally 3 or more slightly more prominent, apex obtuse to acute; 1
odor
No characteristic odor.
Tree
7 m tall, erect or spreading, frequently sucking tree or shrub with branchlets angled at the ends and glabrous or minutely appressed-hairy between the angles on new growth.
Yarran wood bark
Rough-bark
Pros and Cons
Rot resistance
No data is available.
Strength and Durability
- Average Dried Weight: 79.6 lbs/ft3 (1,275 kg/m3)
- Janka Hardness: 4,470 lbf (19,870 N)
allergies and toxicity
No data is available.
Water resistance
No data is available.
Workability
Because of their high density, either hand or machine tools have difficulty working with them.
Yarran wood uses
Yarran is a small tree yielding very dense, dark brown timber. Aboriginals used wood to make spears, clubs, boomerangs, and other primitive weapons.
Yarran wood Related species
Raspberry jam (Acacia acuminata)
Acacia acuminata is a shrub or small tree with evergreen leaves that can grow up to 12 meters tall in the western part of its range but is usually smaller in the eastern region.
Even though the tree is usually on the smaller side, it makes high-quality wood mostly used locally. Native Australians may have used it as a food source in the past. It is also an ornamental plant and can be used as a hedge.
The wood is tough, reddish, beautiful, 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.
In the Wheatbelt area of Zambia, the tree is also used with sandalwood as a companion or host tree.
Mulga (Acacia aneura)
The Mulga Lands in Queensland and the Mulga shrublands in Western Australia have been set aside as protected areas. Acacia aneura, also called mulga or true mulga, is a small tree or shrub that grows in the outback of Australia.
In areas with more rain, it can grow into a single-stemmed tree that is 10 to 15 meters tall.
Most of the time, the bole is short, cracked, and sometimes twisted. Aboriginal people in South Australia’s Coober Pedy area call mulga trees “Umoona,” which means “long life.”
Mulga has no thorns, like most Australian Acacia plants. Aboriginal people thought the wood was poisonous, so they used it to make spearheads.
Brown salwood (Acacia aulacocarpa)
Acacia aulacocarpa is an Australian shrub or tree in the family Fabaceae. 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, also called auri, earleaf Acacia, or earpod wattle, is a fast-growing, crooked, and gnarly tree in the Fabaceae family. It is indigenous to Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Indonesia and can reach heights of up to 30 meters (98 feet).
Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana)
Acacia baileyana, also called Cootamundra wattle, is a shrub or tree in the genus Acacia.
It is native to New South Wales but has been planted a lot in other states and territories in Australia.
It has spread to many places in Victoria and is now considered a weed.
Gidgee (Acacia cambagei)
Acacia cambagei is a tree that only grows in Australia. It is called gidgee or gidjiirr, which comes from the native languages of north-western New South Wales.
It resides primarily in Queensland’s arid and semiarid regions, though it is also found in the Northern Territory, South Australia, and New South Wales. The plants in gidgee communities are similar to those in brigalow forests.
Bendee (Acacia catenulata)
Acacia catenulata, also called bendee, is an Australian tree that grows only in some dry parts of the country. It grows in shallow, reddish-brown sandy loam, clay-loam, and cracking clays that are sometimes rocky.
The trees grow to about 12 meters tall, and their trunks reach about 400mm in diameter. Catenulate and Occidentalis are the two subspecies that are known.
Formosan koa (Acacia confusa)
Acacia confusa is a tree that grows back every year. It is from South-East Asia. Some common names for it are acacia petit feuille, small Philippine acacia, Formosa acacia (Taiwan acacia) and Formosan koa.
The tree has spread to many places in the tropical Pacific, like Hawaii, where it is considered an invasive species.
Pink gidgee (Acacia crombiei)
Acacia crombiei, also called pink gidgee, is a shrub that grows in central Queensland. It is in the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae.
The tree usually grows to about 10 m (33 ft) tall and has the same growth pattern as Acacia cana or Acacia cambagei.
Creekline miniritchie (Acacia cyperophylla)
Acacia cyperophylla is a type of tree in the Fabaceae family. It is also known as creekline miniritchie or red mulga.
The species lives in arid and semiarid parts of Central Australia, from Carnarvon in Western Australia to western Queensland and eastern New South Wales.
It has phyllodes instead of true leaves. Phyllodes are stiff, have round cross-sections, and are bent.
Silver wattle (Acacia dealbata)
Southeast Australia is the home of the flowering plant species known as Acacia dealbata, also referred to as the silver wattle, blue wattle, or mimosa.
It is a tree or shrub that retains its evergreen foliage throughout the year and has a rapid growth rate, reaching heights of up to 30 meters. It is typically one of the first plants to start growing again after a fire.
The leaves have two sets of leaflets, are glaucous blue-green to silvery grey, and are 1–12 cm long and 1–11 cm wide.
Green wattle (Acacia decurrens)
A perennial tree or shrub called Acacia decurrens grows in the eastern part of New South Wales.
It is often called black wattle or early green wattle.
It grows to be 2–15 m (7–50 ft) tall and blooms in July, August, and September.
The species has spread to most of Australia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, New Zealand, the Pacific, the area around the Indian Ocean, and Japan.
Brown lancewood (Acacia doratoxylon)
Acacia doratoxylon is from the subgenus Juliflorae of the genus Acacia, found in eastern and southeastern Australia.
Usually, the shrub or tree grows to be 3 to 8 m tall (9.8 to 26.2 ft). Its trunk has corrugated bark that is dark grayish brown to black.
Ironwood wattle (Acacia excelsa)
Acacia excelsa is a tree that grows only in the inland parts of northeastern Australia. It is a member of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves.
It has phyllodes instead of true leaves, like most Acacia species. Phyllodes have a narrowly elliptic or oblong shape and can be straight or slightly bend.
Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla)
Acacia The brigalow, or Acacia harpophylla, is a tree that grows only in Australia. The tree is called Barranbaa or Burrii by the Gamilaraay people, who are the original people of Australia.
It has the potential to reach a height of 25 meters (82 feet) and thrives in open forests on clay soils in large groups. Most of the time, brigalow wood is cut down for its timber, tannins, and essential oil.
Lightwood (Acacia implexa)
Acacia implexa is an Australian tree that grows quickly and is often called lightwood or hickory wattle. Wood is used to make furniture, paper, and dyes for clothes.
The tree was brought to South Africa as a plantation crop, but it got away and is now considered a weed there.
Koa (Acacia koa)
Acacia koa is a type of tree in the family Fabaceae that has flowers. It is the second most common tree and is only found in the Hawaiian Islands.
Its name, koa, also means brave, bold, fearless, or warrior in Hawaiian.
With a specific gravity of 0.55, Koa wood is about as strong and heavy as Black Walnut (Juglans nigra). It is often used in wood carving and furniture.
Trey Anastasio, the guitarist for Phish, mostly plays a koa hollowbody Languedoc guitar.
Some of the electric guitars made by B.C. Rich was made with koa, and some still have koa veneer on the top wood.
Koai’a (Acacia koaia)
Acacia koaia is a tree that grows only in Hawaii. It is in the pea family. People say that koai’a wood is very different from koa wood, which may be the best way to tell them apart.
There may be an intermediate population on the north coast of Kaua’i, but the relationships have not been worked out.
There may be an intermediate population on the north coast of Kauai, but the relationships have not been worked out.
Curracabah (Acacia leiocalyx)
Acacia leiocalyx, also called “black wattle,” grows as far south as Sydney, Australia, in Queensland. It grows all over eucalyptus forests, especially on shallow, well-drained soils.
It only lives for a few years and grows 6–7 meters (20–23 ft) tall with a trunk about 180 mm (7 in) in diameter.
Mangium (Acacia mangium)
Acacia mangium is a type of flowering tree that grows in Australia’s northeastern Queensland, Papua, Papua New Guinea’s Western Province, and the eastern Maluku Islands. It is in the pea family, which is called Fabaceae.
This plant also goes by the names black wattle, hickory wattle, mangium, and forest mangrove. It can be used to manage the environment and to make wood.
Carl Ludwig Willdenow, living in the Moluccas at the time, was the first person to write about it in 1806.
Black wattle (Acacia mearnsii)
Acacia mearnsii, also called black wattle, late black wattle, or green wattle, is a flowering plant that grows only in southeastern Australia.
Acacia mearnsii is a flowering plant species in the Fabaceae family.
Usually, it is a straight tree with smooth bark, two-lobed leaves, and spherical clusters of fragrant flowers. After the flowers, pods that range in color from nearly black to a reddish brown appear.
In the genus Acacia, Acacia mearnsii seems to be related to A. dealbata, A. nanodealbata, and A. baileyana the most. It is grown commercially in Africa, South America, and Europe, among other places.
Tannins are often taken from the tree’s bark and used to make soft leather.
Australian Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon)
Acacia melanoxylon is a type of Acacia that is native to Southeastern Australia. It is often called the Australian Blackwood.
The tree can grow to about 20 meters (66 feet) tall and has a trunk that is about 150 cm (59 inches) in diameter.
There are also species of blackwood, hickory, mudgerabah, Tasmanian blackwood, and blackwood acacia.
Myall (Acacia pendula)
Australia is home to a type of wattle called Acacia pendula. In the book The Useful Native Plants of Australia, written in 1889, the plant was called “Weeping Myall,” “True Myall,” and “Boree” and “Balaar” by the Indigenous people of western New South Wales and Queensland.
Waddywood (Acacia peuce)
Acacia peuce is a type of tree that grows only in central Australia. It is also known as Birdsville wattle, waddi, or waddy-wood.
The glabrous tree can reach a height of 18 meters (49 to 59 ft). It has short horizontal branches and branchlets that hang down. The needle-like phyllodes cover the branchlets.
Golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
The southeastern part of Australia is home to a species of tree known as the golden wattle, also known scientifically as Acacia pycnantha.
It can grow to a height of eight meters (twenty-six feet), and rather than having true leaves, it has phyllodes, which are flattened leaf stalks.
It has no subspecies, and in 1988, it was made the official flower of Australia.
Spear wattle (Acacia rhodoxylon)
Acacia rhodoxylon is a tree that grows in northeastern Australia. It is in the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is also called rosewood, ringy rosewood, and spear wattle.
The tree usually grows between 6 and 20 m tall, and the main trunk is between 15 and 25 cm (5.9 to 9.8 in) in diameter. It has phyllodes instead of true leaves, like most Acacia species.
Cooba (Acacia salicina)
Acacia salicina is a type of Australian Acacia tree that doesn’t have thorns.
Common names for this tree include cooba, native willow, willow wattle, Broughton willow, and Sally wattle.
Acacia salicina is “closely related” to Acacia ligulate and Acacia bivenosa.
This plant grows quickly and drops a lot of leaves.
Shirley’s lancewood (Acacia shirleyi)
Acacia shirleyi is an Australian plant that grows in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
It can grow to a height of eight meters (twenty-six feet), and rather than having true leaves, it has phyllodes, which are flattened leaf stalks.
The native people burned the wood and made spears out of it to hunt.
River cooba (Acacia stenophylla)
Acacia stenophylla is a type of Acacia that is often called the “shoestring acacia.”
It is an evergreen tree that grows in Australia. It is a member of the Fabaceae family and can grow to a height of between 13 and 66 feet (13 to 20 meters), with stems approximately 1 meter (3.3 feet) in length.
