Acacia melanoxylon

Blackwood acacia

Family: Fabaceae · Type: tree · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Blackwood acacia is a naturalized tree found in coastal regions of California, including the North Coast, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, northern Channel Islands, and Peninsular Ranges at elevations below 200 meters in disturbed areas. Flowering from February to March, this tree produces pale yellow blossoms in small raceme clusters. Growing up to 30 meters tall with unarmed branches and common root suckers, it develops distinctively angled twigs. Its mature leaves are simple, lanceolate to oblanceolate, 4 to 14 centimeters long with 3 to 5 prominent longitudinal veins. The fruit is a dark brown, curved and twisted leathery pod 5 to 15 centimeters long, with seeds featuring a distinctive yellow to red aril encircling them.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Feb-Mar

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SnFrB, SCo, n ChI, PR

California counties: Santa Cruz, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Ventura, Marin, Mendocino, Humboldt, San Mateo, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.