Tag: acacia

Leaf of the Day: Fishing with the Acacia

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I found quite a few other acacias in the Gardens last week, including the String Acacia, Acacia stenophylla, the Sweet Acacia, Acacia farnesiana, the Umbrella Thorn, Acacia tortillis, the Fever Tree, Acacia xanthophloea and this tall and ” leafy” Acacia holosericea.

This is a fascinating tree for so many reasons, not only does it (just like the soapberry) have fish stunning and soapy properties but parts of it are edible and it falls into the “when is a leaf not a leaf ” catagory.
The big sickle shaped “leaves” which make this tree so beautiful and densely shady are just modified stems, i.e. phyllodes. When young these leaves have a silky texture earning it the additional name of the Velvet Wattle.

“This is an acacia of northern Australia. useful species for fuelwood, charcoal, windbreaks and soil conservation. The hard dark brown heartwood can be turned into small decorative items. It splits easily, dries rapidly and makes an excellent fuel. Northern Australian Aboriginal people used it for many purposes; different parts of the plant were used to make bush soap, medicines, fish poison and spear shafts. The seeds can be ground into flour and used in cooking.”
from Grassland Species Website here

It’s interesting that a fish poisoning tree also has edible parts…

“Bush Tucker: Trials have been conducted in Africa by Australian aid agencies that have shown that the seeds of Acacia holosericea are a very nutritious and popular food. They have a high protein content – 17-25%. It is hoped to use the plant widely in revegetation schemes.
The seeds were roasted, boiled like lentils, or steamed with vegetables. Children particularly liked the nutty flavour of the roasted seeds.”
from ‘The Society for Growing Australian Plants’ here

The “soap” comes from the sticky green pods, which can be wetted and rubbed or crushed together produce a soapy lather.
There are pale yellow cylindrical flowers which appear in clusters, and give it yet another name the Candelabra Wattle


This photo was taken back in December, before I knew what this tree was. The flowers were nearly over so there should be pods developing very soon.


Until I started researching fish poisoning, I had no idea that it was so widespread or that so many plants could be utilised for fishing, but here is how to do it with the holosericea in Australia.
This is from the “Uw Oykangand and Uw Olkola Multimedia Dictionary” site here, all about the Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in the central Cape York Peninsula Australia. It’s a fascinating site which describes the uses of natural resources as well as the language.

“With soapy tree, soapy wattle, Acacia holosericea, and the fish poison tree, Acacia ditricha and freshwater mangrove, gather the leaves and put them into a dilly bag. Rub the bag in the water until a soapy foam comes out. This stuns the fish in the waterhole and they float to the surface. They may then be collected and eaten.
There is a great deal of ritual surrounding this method of fish poisoning. For example, the men work and remain separated from the women and children. Also, since it may take several hours for the leaves to have their effect, it is usually left overnight or longer and the old men wait by the water in the morning. They sing out to signal that the waterhole is ready to be harvested, and go down to collect their fish first. Everyone else may go down after them.
An interviewee, Lofty Yam explains:
” They sing him, old paten. Watch everybody, not to catch any of them fish, they don’t like. . ..That feller still singing, watch everybody, not to take them fish before time, you know. Take ’em right time.”

The active ingredient in this acacia is “rotenone” an alkaloid toxin, luckily only toxic to cold-blooded creatures which stuns fish by impairing their oxygen consumption whereas the chemical in the soapberry fish poison is “saponin”.

For even more about fishing this way around the world see an interesting article “Fishing with Poisons” by Chuck Kritzon here from Primativeways.
I don’t really think I will be trying it in the lakes of Orlando. By the look of some of the waters I am surprised there any fish in there at all, but with all the city effluents and pollution they are probably immune to a bit of rotenone and who knows what effect it might have on the alligators.

The leaves may be silky when young but these recently fallen leaves are as tough as old boots with strong raised lateral veins. It was only when I had drawn them that I realised they looked rather like two washed up fish ..ahh..

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Acacia Holsericea Leaves

Leaf of the day: Acacia Nilotica Seedpod

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Today is a pod from Acacia nilotica, subsp. tomentosa. Due to the clearing and replanting of the Arid Garden this tree is now more accessible and these lovely pods were scattered on the cleared ground, around the base of the tree. There are now many new and exciting plants in this area, yet more to explore and draw.
This is just one small corner of the Arid Garden. The Acacia nilotica is the twiggy little tree on the left.

There are so many acacias at Leu Gardens. I have only drawn a couple. The Bulls Horn Acacia .. (Ant’s home) and the Cat’s Claw acacia, here . This one will have a beautifully scented little yellow flowers and the young pods and leaves are important as animal fodder in Africa. It was an early source for gum arabic which is now more usually provided by another acacia, Acacia senegal. Where would watercolourists be without gum arabic? A question I will answer if I find an Acacia senegal.


Image from Aluka’s online digital library of scholarly resources from and about Africa here. (‘Aluka’, is derived from a Zulu word meaning ‘to weave’… nice, I thought.)


A very nice old botanical print of the acacia nilotica .. here called mimosa, from 1800 Wiki here.

There is so much to write about acacias with over 1300 species of worldwide. On my next visit to the Gardens I will see which other species they have.

The pods are velvety when young. This one I have drawn is older, but still had some soft furry patches. They are very pleasing things.

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Acacia Nilotica Seedpod


Watercolour on Arches HP, size 7″x 5″

Leaf of the Day: The Identification of Ant and his Probable Home

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Ant has been very busy today, running about the drawing board and up and down the two desk lamps and while looking through the Myakka photographs yesterday I was reminded that I have now discovered his identity. Pinned to the canopy walkway tower at Myakka are information boards about the wildlife including this..

I recognised my little drawing companion at once who, it seems, rejoices in a name that is several times longer than himself. He is definitely one of the Skinny Dark Elongate Twig Ants, the Pseudomyrmex.
He might be P. ferruginea because they are some of the ants who live in the Bull’s Horn Acacia and I am now even more sure that he arrived with the Bull’s Horn Acacia thorns. He could be P. gracilis or even P.mexicanus Roger :)… The descriptions fit in every way, particularly the colouring. Reading more about these delicate little arboreal ants it seems they are often solitary and live on tiny insects and ( ignorance was bliss) they have quite a bite, but only when provoked or defending their tree. They inhabit twigs and thorns and hollow stems and make only small colonies.


I don’t yet have a good photo of my ant but this is P. gracilis from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center here

The role of caretaker ants for various trees is fascinating. I wrote about this before here in relation to the Bull’s Horn Acacia and the wonderful Thomas Belt who observed the ant’s behaviour in 1868. They will attack any threat to their chosen tree ferociously and even clear the ground of vegetation to allow their favourite tree the best possible growing conditions, in return they get food and lodgings.
Perhaps Ant’s loyalties have now been transferred to me, although he doesn’t seem to be doing a very good job of clearing the room of mosquitoes. He seems remarkably fit, healthy and happy with lots of small insects to feed on and the occasion drop of honey and an endless supply of new and exciting bits of twig, flowers, fruit and seedpods to play with. However I feel I should to take him back to Leu to his tree as he evaded the earlier repatriation. But there are moral complications. What if he would now be regarded as an outsider and attacked and killed.. How would I feel? But does he enjoy his solitary existence? Maybe are there really two of them and they are perfectly happy here. I shall have to attend to this dilemma soon.

The drawing is of one of the major thorns of the acacia in which Ant and his friends and relations would keep house. The entrance to this particular thorny residence is through the black hole in the part which looks like a bird’s head. The thorns are all hollow and this one is big, some 4 inches across. It’s shape is fabulous, looking like some modernist piece of sculpture, nature’s architecture at its Frank Gehry best and very fitting for my little skinny ant friend.
Oh, that I could have such an inspiring home.

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Ant’s Home, The Bull’s Horn Acacia Thorn.

Leaf of the Day: Ants, and Water Plantain, Day 6

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Some time ago I wrote about repatriating some ants to Leu gardens which, I know, had arrived here in the Bulls Horn Acacia thorns. (reason here) Since then, Pedro gave me another beautiful thorn with, of course, a couple more of the caretaker ants. These I have re-homed in remote parts of the apartment complex but I seem to be stuck with one that won’t leave. I have put it outside now many many times but the next day it is back, so I give in and now seem to have a pet. I am not particularly fond of ants but my Buddhist leanings stop me just squashing it. There only seems to be this one at the moment so for now we have a truce. If the extended family arrive for a prolonged stay I may have to reconsider my largess.
It is a slender delicate little thing, extremely adventurous and fearless and spends a large part of the day running around my drawing table. I felt sorry for it the other day and gave it some honey which it spent all day eating. I didn’t see it the next day so presumed it was sleeping off a massive honey hangover, but today it was back.. it’s name is…Ant. It will feature in a painting soon and it’s quite nice to have this diminutive little companion for a while. Painting is a solitary business.
It has been scampering about all day today and has been a welcome distraction from watching paint dry. However it’s day 6 and I hope only one more day to go. I think it would be wise to stop anyway and get on with something else. I have made some mistakes and some progress but I always say that if you are happy with just one square inch of a painting it has been worthwhile.
I plodded on with the leaves but by lunch time I just had to get rid of the masking fluid. This may be a mistake, but I was just fed up with seeing the blue stuff and its sticks to your hand too.


Accidents?.. well 4 so far, one aphid which fell off my model and left a green smeary mark and 3 colour spots, one where I had paint on my hand. another where I dropped the brush, and the inevitable mystery one. All are on the parts of the paper which have to stay white .. but hey!..there is no point in worrying.
After another trip to find another flower head I started the stem. The green seed heads are quite a different green from the leaves.. really bright emerald but for this painting and in view of the comment the colours of my last submission I am keeping them subdued.
As I am writing this I have just noticed my other delightful studio companion, the house gecko. They are amazing aren’t they? Just like moving fridge magnets.. Hmmm …how compatible exactly are geckos and ants?

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Water Plantain, Stage 3

Leaf of the Day: Cat’s Claw Acacia Pods

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We are back from a great 10 days input of art, culture, nature and ..well.. Las Vegas. What can you say about Las Vegas? …
We travelled from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, to Winslow, to Flagstaff to Grand Canyon North Side and then Las Vegas. Landscape glorious, skies high and wild, colours stunning, history fascinating and time zones confusing.
High spots: Albuquerque, museums; Santa Fe, everything; Winslow, the fabulous La Posada hotel: Flagstaff, the Lowell observatory; Grand Canyon, everything and Jacob Lake Hotel; Las Vegas …Hmmmmm, well the Bellagio fountain is lovely.
In ten days we hardly scratched the surface of this wonderful area. We didn’t get to Taos, or Bryce Canyon or the high Mesas, there is still so much to see and go back for, so a return visit is inevitable.
I am going to try to write a little about the experiences that have stayed with me and from the perspective of a a first timer! My enthusiasm may seem naive to seasoned travellers of the South West and some may be weary of desert and mountains but you cannot imagine how I loved those big skies and huge vistas.. Florida roads can seem very claustrophobic sometimes. I am from English flat lands but flat lands with views.
I saw many new and different plants, took a million photos of rocks and did very little drawing! ..so it’s catch up time… retro posting to follow.

I didn’t manage to bring much back from the trip to draw but these lovely pods survived 6 suitcase packing and unpackings. They are from the Cat’s Claw Acacia. Albuquerque was our first stop and the Albuquerque Natural History museum is fabulous. The displays, exhibits and information are top class and the murals are stunning. It’s worth a visit just for those.
Adjacent to the museum there is a small planted area of interesting trees and shrubs, with name tags detailing the flora of the region and some nice pods!
Amongst them were Arizona ash, Velvet mesquite, Choke cherry, Claret cup cactus, Western desert willow, Skunkbush, Paper flower and the curiously named Whirling Butterfly. There is some homework for me to do.

This Cat’s Claw Acacia was amongst them. Acacia greggii . It is a shrubby bush with strong, curved thorns, which earn it the even more expressive names of tear-blanket, devil’s claw, and wait-a-minute bush. It has pretty round leaflets and these lovely big curved pods.

The seeds were ground by the Native Indians for flour and the wood is so dense that it was used as an excellent coal substitute. It’s a fine protective shrub and gives shelter to some animals and birds and bees love the fragrant flowers. I can do no better than quote from Donald Culross Peattie writing about this bush in his excellent classic ” A Natural History of North American Trees”. The two volumes are becoming favourites of mine. I do like people who write with some passion about their subject.
“Desert cats claw is the most detested and roundly cursed of all trees in the Southwest for its ferocious armament of spines tears flesh and clothing of all who venture within its grasp. ….its flattened and hooked talons curl under the skin or the cloth, making extraction worse than penetration.
Yet it is this hostile little tree that yields that white ambrosia known as Uvalde honey, the most celebrated in Texas.”
Apparently the Uvalde honey is a mixture of this and another acacia shrub called huajillo, the two trees blossom time overlaps in April “when the bees are most active..compounding a confection that is unequaled for fragrance and taste.”
I wish I had come across some as I am very fond of honey.

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Cat’s Claw Acacia Pod

Leaf of the Day: Bull’s Horn Acacia and its Caretaker Ants

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Today was my last brief trip to Leu Gardens for at least 3 weeks. I will miss my visits, both for the people and the plants. However I have a little thorny twig today from the Bull’s Horn Acacia tree, acacia sphaerocephala which looks nothing much on its own, but just a little research reveals one of those plants with an extraordinary relationship with insects. This time with ants.

While supervising a gold mine in Nicaragua in 1868, Thomas Belt, a British engineer and keen naturalist observed that a particular acacia tree seemed to be colonised with ants, so much so that if he touched the tree and disturbed their colony, the ants would race out and bite him ferociously. Simply put, Belt formed a theory that the plant and the ants seemed to rely on each other, forming a mutualistic relationship, which he published, to some scorn at the time, in 1874. Here is a section from his book “The Naturalist in Nicaragua” which is written in such a delightful way.

“The branches and trunk of the acacia are covered with strong curved spines, set in pairs, from which it receives the name of the bull’s-horn thorn, they having a very strong resemblance to the horns of that quadruped. These thorns are hollow, and are tenanted by ants, that make a small hole for their entrance and exit near one end of the thorn, and also burrow through the partition that separates the two horns; so that the one entrance serves for both. Here they rear their young, and in the wet season every one of the thorns is tenanted; and hundreds of ants are to be seen running about, especially over the young leaves.
If one of these be touched, or a branch shaken, the little ants (Pseudomyrmabicolor, Guer.) swarm out from the hollow thorns, and attack the aggressor with jaws and sting. They sting severely, raising a little white lump that does not disappear in less than twenty-four hours. These ants form a most efficient standing army for the plant, which prevents not only the mammals from browsing on the leaves, but delivers it from the attacks of a much more dangerous enemy–the leaf-cutting ants. For these services the ants are not only securely housed by the plant, but are provided with a bountiful supply of food and to secure their attendance at the right time and place, the food is so arranged and distributed as to effect that object with wonderful perfection.”

The strategically well laid on meals he speaks of are provided in the form of small nectaries at the base of the leaves which produce a sugary, and amino acid rich ant treat. They don’t have far to go, as the thorns and leaves are adjacent. There are also more “solid meals” for them in the form of small protein filled packets at the tips of the leaflets, which he describes as looking like “little pears”. In this photo above from Backyard Nature you can just see ants, cups of nectar and the yellow “pears”
“When the leaf first unfolds, the little pears are not quite ripe, and the ants are continually employed going from one to another, examining them.When an ant finds one sufficiently advanced, it bites the small point of attachment; then, bending down the fruit-like body, it breaks it off and bears it away in triumph to the nest. All the fruit-like bodies do not ripen at once, but successively, so that the ants are kept about the young leaf for some time after it unfolds. Thus the young leaf is always guarded by the ants; and no caterpillar or larger animal could attempt to injure them without being attacked by the little warriors. The fruit-like bodies are about one-twelfth of an inch long, and are about one-third of the size of the ants; so that an ant carrying one away is as heavily laden as a man bearing a large bunch of plantains. ……..These ants seem to lead the happiest of existences. Protected by their stings, they fear no foe. Habitations full of food are provided for them to commence housekeeping with, and cups of nectar and luscious fruits await them every day.”

Belt’s theories were questioned at the time and it wasn’t until the 1960’s that the relationship between the ants and the trees were proved by Daniel Janzen. Astonishingly, as well as being ferocious defenders of the tree, the ants keep the surroundings of the tree clear of other plants, even pruning branches of nearby trees which would overshadow the acacia and take its light.
Thomas Belt was one of those energetic and apparently indefatigable Victorians. A geologist and naturalist by inclination he seemed to be able to juggle both his “hobby” and his job of goldmining supervisor with ease. His work took him to Russia, Australia, Nicaragua, Siberia, Nova Scotia and Denver where he was able to make thorough and important observations of the natural world, as well as theorising about the glacial periods in England. .. It makes my 2 mile radius world of Winter Park seem very small.
For other interesting insect related story see previous posts. oak galls, cycads and fig

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Bull’s Horn Acacia.