About Acacia linifolia (Vent.) Willd.
Scientific name: Acacia linifolia (Vent.) Willd.
Description: This shrub typically grows 1.5 to 4 meters (4 ft 11 in to 13 ft 1 in) tall, with an erect or spreading growth habit. It has greyish, smooth or finely fissured bark. Its branchlets are glabrous (hairless) or sometimes hairy, marked with fine ridges, and become angled toward their tips. Like most Acacia species, it has phyllodes instead of true leaves. These evergreen, glabrous phyllodes are more or less linear in shape, measuring 2 to 5 cm (0.79 to 1.97 in) long and 0.7 to 2.5 mm (0.028 to 0.098 in) wide, with a prominent midvein. Inflorescences form in groups of 5 to 17 arranged in an axillary raceme, holding spherical flower-heads 4 to 5.5 mm (0.16 to 0.22 in) in diameter. Each flower-head contains 6 to 12 pale yellow to white flowers. After flowering, it produces glabrous, thinly leathery seed pods. The pods are often covered in a fine white powdery coating, are straight or curved, are more or less flattened but become raised over the seeds inside. They measure 3 to 12 cm (1.2 to 4.7 in) long and 8 to 15 mm (0.31 to 0.59 in) wide, and contain seeds arranged longitudinally.
Distribution: This species is found in New South Wales, Australia, with a range extending from the Hunter Valley in the north down to the Hill Top area in the south, and it is quite common around Sydney. It most often grows as part of dry sclerophyll forest, heathland, or open woodland plant communities. It typically grows in skeletal sandy soils over or adjacent to sandstone, or in clay soils over or adjacent to shale.
Traditional use: Acacia linifolia features in the D'harawal people's dreaming stories *Doo’ragai Diday Boo’kerrikin (The Sisters Boo’kerrikin)* and *Bundalook (How the Birds got their Colours)*. Its wood was traditionally used to make implements and weapons. Bruised leaves and young twigs were thrown into water holes or slow-moving streams to stun fish.
