Acacia Furniture

A durable hard wood from fast growing trees from the Far East and South America. The thin grain, the flame design and varied colour shades give furniture made from it a warm appearance.

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees of Gondwanian origin belonging to the Subfamily Mimosoideae of the Pea Family (Family Fabaceae). There are roughly 1300 species of Acacia worldwide, about 950 of them native to Australia, with the remainder spread around the dry tropical to warm-temperate regions of both hemispheres, including Africa, southern Asia, and the Americas.

Acacia Wood Uses

It had long been valued as a timber tree in the United States, and in Virginia and New England was used for treenails in shipbuilding, being hard, strong, inelastic, and durable. Much attention was directed to it in Europe for this and other purposes in 1762, in 1786, and at subsequent dates. It was described as suitable for furniture, axletrees, cogs, or wedges, as being a good fuel, and even as capable of cultivation as green forage for cattle; and in 1791 a Mr. Ebenezer Jessup proposed in the Gentleman's Magazine that ten thousand acres in the New Forest and Forest of Dean should be planted with this tree for the purposes of the navy, stating that he knew posts made of its wood to last from 80 to 100 years.

William Cobbett, while farming on Long Island, between 1817 and 1819, was struck with its utility and on his return to England brought home some of its seed, which, from 1823, he cultivated on an enormous scale at Kensington and Barnes. He wrote of the tree in terms of the most extravagant eulogy, styling it the "tree of trees," and prophesying that it was destined to speedily replace most of the hard-wood trees in cultivation.

Industrial and medicinal uses
Various species of acacia yield gum. True gum arabic is the product of Acacia Senegal, abundant in dry tropical west Africa from Senegal to northern Nigeria.

The bark of various Australian species, known as wattles, is very rich in tannin and forms an important article of export; important species include Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle), Acacia decurrens (Tan Wattle), Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle) and Acacia mearnsii (Black Wattle). Black Wattle is grown in plantations in South Africa. The pods of Acacia nilotica (under the name of neb-neb), and of other African species are also rich in tannin and used by tanners.

Most acacia species are used for valuable timber; such are Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwood) from Australia, which attains a great size; its wood is used for furniture, and takes a high polish; and Acacia homalophylla (Myall Wood, also Australian), which yields a fragrant timber, used for ornamental purposes. Acacia formosa supplies the valuable Cuban timber called sabicu. Acacia seyal is thought to be the shittah tree of the Bible, which supplied shittim-wood. This was used in the construction of the Ark of the Covenant. As a spiritual icon it is also one of the most powerful symbols in freemasonry, representing the eternal soul and purity of the soul. Acacia heterophylla from Réunion island, and Acacia koa from the Hawaiian Islands are excellent timber trees.

Acacia farnesiana is used in the perfume industry due to its strong fragrance. An astringent medicine, called catechu or cutch, is procured from several species, but more especially from Acacia catechu, by boiling down the wood and evaporating the solution so as to get an extract.

Ornamental uses; a few species are widely grown as ornamentals in gardens; the most popular perhaps is Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle), with its attractive glaucous to silvery leaves and bright yellow flowers.

Culinary uses; Acacia seeds are often used for food and a variety of other products. The seeds of Acacia niopo, for instance, are roasted and used as snuff in South America. In Burma, Laos and Thailand, the feathery shoots of Acacia pennata are used in soups, curries, omelettes, and stir-fries. Honey made from the acacia flower is considered a delicacy, appreciated for its mild flowery taste, soft running texture and glass like appearance.

Pharmacological uses; many Acacia species contain some psychoactive alkaloids of which DMT and NMT are the most prominent and useful. Egyptian mythology has associated the acacia tree with characteristics of the 'tree of life'.

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