Acacia glauca
(wild dividivi)

Preferred Common Name

• wild dividivi

Other Scientific Names

• Acacia curassavica (Killip) Stehle
• Acacia villosa (Swartz) Willd.
• Acaciella curassavica Killip
• Acaciella glauca (L.) L. Rico
• Acaciella villosa (Swartz) Britton & Rose
• Leucaena glauca (L.) Benth.
• Mimosa glauca L.

International Common Names

• English: redwood
• French: amourette
• Chinese: hui he huan

Local Common Names

• Caribbean: watapana
• Indonesia/Java: mlanding merah; mlanding sabrang
• Indonesia/Nusa Tenggara: petes merah
• Malaysia: mata galinja

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Fabales
•                         Family: Fabaceae
•                             Subfamily: Mimosoideae
•                                 Genus: Acacia
•                                     Species: Acacia glauca

Acacia glauca is a species in the legume family Fabaceae, in the subfamily Mimosoideae and the tribe Acacieae. However, notwithstanding the clear confusion introduced below regarding synonymy, it appears that A. glauca is a ‘good’ species with agreed limits, although it is possible that in which genus it is placed may yet change again with new insights revealed by molecular taxonomy and the continuing debate on the relative ranks and naming of Acacia subgenera.

A. glauca (L.) Moench is the accepted name in the Plant List (2013) and is accepted here. However, USDA-ARS (2015) and Csurhes and Navie (2010) in Australia use Acaciella glauca (L.) Rico as the given name, with Acacia glauca (L.) Moench as one of its synonyms, and as such, in Australia and the USA, Acaciella glauca is the name usually used. Acacia curassavica (and Acaciella curassavica) are accepted synonyms (e.g. Rico Arce and Bachman, 2006).

A. glauca is often confused with other closely related species such as A. villosa and A. angustissima which are similar in habit, environmental adaptation and productivity (Csurhes and Navie, 2010). A. villosa (Sw.) Willd. is also mentioned as a synonym by some sources, though the Plant List (2013) and Rico Arce and Bachman (2006) treat them as distinct species, which is accepted here. A. villosa has synonyms that include Acaciella villosa (Sw.) Britton & Rose and Mimosa villosa Sw. However, there are a number of references in the literature that treat A. villosa and A. glauca as the same species (e.g. Bässler, 1998).

However, extreme caution should be taken when looking at the literature associated with this binomial, especially regarding synonyms reported in various other databases. Care should also be taken with the naming authority, as A. glauca (L.) Willd. is also taken as a synonym of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit (ILDIS, 2014; The Plant List, 2013), although it could also be confused as a synonym of A. glauca (L.) Moench. Thus, the use of A. glauca with no indication of naming authority as a synonym for L. leucocephala is a cause of great taxonomic confusion.

Leucaena glauca (L.) Benth is also taken as a synonym of A. glauca (L.) Moench by PIER (2015), and as a synonym of Acaciella glauca (L.) L. Rico by USDA-ARS (2015). However, Leucaena glauca with three other authorities (Benth; (Willd.) Benth; and (sensu L. 1763) Benth) are cited by ILDIS (2014) as synonyms of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit.

The Plant List (2013) also states that Acaciella glauca (L.) L. Rico is “the accepted name of a species in the genus Acaciella (family Leguminosae). The record derives from Tropicos (data supplied on 2012-04-18) which reports it as an accepted name (record 50319064) with original publication details: Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 63(2): 210 2006”…, but also adds that “A cross-taxon basionym link was ignored while processing this record, see Mimosa glauca L.”.

Mimosa glaucaL. (1753) is taken as a synonym of A. glauca (L.) Moench by ILDIS (2014), but the same database differentiates Mimosa glauca sensu L. (1963), including it as a synonym of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. During work on the revision of the taxonomical limits of Leucaena by the global authority on the genus, Hughes (1997) stated that “The adoption of both L. glauca and Mimosa glauca as type species is rejected in order to prevent synonymy with the genus Acacia.”

A. glauca is an erect shrub or small tree, often only 1.5-2.5 m tall but growing to 5-6 m and even up to 8 m where conditions permit, often with an open crown and dark red bark. Trees are unarmed, branches terete, pubescent, sparsely pubescent to glabrous, stipules linear-lanceolate and 2-3 mm long, younger twigs more strigose. Leaves are bipinnately or sometimes tripinnately compound, 4.5–15 cm long, borne on glabrous or sparingly strigose petioles 2–5.5 cm long. They are composed of (2-)5-6(-10) pairs of pinnae 3-6(-9) cm long, rachis 8-12 cm long, glandless, each with 10-30 pairs leaflets that are each 4-8(-10) mm long and 1-3 mm wide, opposite, broadly oblong, oblong-lanceolate or oblong-ovate, obtuse at their apex and obtusely asymmetrical at the base, subglabrous or lightly pubescent. Leaflets are glabrous on both surfaces or occasionally shortly strigose below. Leaflet venation is reticulate, visible only on the paler undersides, the midvein is near the middle, bilaterally slightly asymmetric. The stipules are linear, 2–5 mm long and caduceus, margin ciliate, on petioles 2 cm long, normally eglandular. Inflorescence a short, sometimes subcapitate, 20-40-flowered white and slightly fragrant raceme of oblong to subglobose heads, 2-6 together in upper axils, on peduncles 1-2 cm long, pedicels to 1 mm long. Flowers are 5-merous, bisexual, white turning yellowish, calyx campanulate, 0.5-1 mm long, 5-lobed; corolla is white, tubular, 5-lobed, 2-4 mm long; stamens prominent and numerous (100 or more), initially white turning yellow, 6-7 mm long; ovary stipitate with 5 mm long style. The flat, thin fruit is an oblong pod (1.5-)5-7(-10) cm long and 1-2 cm wide, glossy brown, (1-)3-6(-8) seeded, often irregularly constricted, villous, tapered to a stipitate base, obtuse and apiculate at apex. Seeds are brown, oval, about 3-5 mm long and 3 mm wide (based on World Agroforestry Centre (2009) and other descriptions).

A. glauca was introduced to Indonesia in 1920, initially planted in Java as an alternative nurse species to L. leucocephala in teak (Tectona grandis) plantations, to rehabilitate degraded land and to stabilize terrace ridges. It was also introduced to the Philippines around the same time (Jukema and Danimihardja, 1997).

The earliest herbarium record from Fiji is dated 1954 (GBIF, 2015), and 1957 for Queensland, Australia (Csurhes and Navie, 2010), though it may have been introduced there well before that date. Information is not forthcoming regarding dates of other introductions, though it is known to have formed part of introduction trials of potentially valuable agroforestry species that were widely established, especially in the 1980s, and it thus may have been introduced to other countries around this time. For example, Csurhes and Navie (2010) report that it was widely planted in Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s, encompassing 27 sites between 1975 and 1991 (where it was planted under the name Acacia angustissima) to investigate its potential as cattle forage, though trials concluded that it had limited fodder value and that its weed potential probably outweighed any benefits likely to be gained. However, notwithstanding this conclusion, these experimental plots appear to be the origin of current invasions in the area where the species has escaped from cultivation.

Soil drainage

• free

Soil reaction

• acid
• alkaline
• neutral

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

Special soil tolerances

• infertile
• shallow

Natural Dispersal

Although no definitive studies appear to be available, it may be considered that seeds are dispersed by gravity, possibly aided to a small extent by insect and rodent dispersal. Water, especially floodwater following rain, is also likely to be an important means of longer range dispersal. The light mature pods may be blown short distances from the parent tree by wind,

Vector Transmission (Biotic)

Experience with species closely related to A. glauca with similar hard-coated seeds indicates that seeds may be eaten by livestock, wild mammals or birds and then germinate after passing intact through the animals’ digestive systems; such seeds can survive for many years in the soil.

Accidental Introduction

Short distance dispersal of seeds could also occur in mud packs formed on animals’ hooves or on vehicles during wet periods (Csurhes and Navie, 2010; Queensland Government, 2011). When a single A. glauca plant was found growing in a crop of centro (Centrosema sp.) at a research station in Queensland in 1964, it was considered to have been introduced into the country as a contaminant in the centro seed (Csurhes and Navie, 2010).

Intentional Introduction

A. glauca has been introduced internationally as a valuable agroforestry species, similar to L. leucocephala. It is also widely planted as an ornamental throughout the Tropics.

Impact on Biodiversity

A. glauca has been reported as an environmental weed in several countries including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia (notably Queensland), the Cook Islands and Mauritius. It forms dense thickets in parts of Queensland and in the Cook Islands, crowding out native species. The species is listed as a weed known to have an impact on rangeland biodiversity in Queensland (Martin et al., 2006), and is a Class 1 declared plant in Queensland and a Category 1 species in the Far North Queensland list of regional priority weeds (as Acaciella glauca) (Csurhes and Navie, 2010). There are few other records regarding the exact nature of impacts specific to A. glauca, though it could be assumed that they would be similar to those for the closely related L. leucocephala. 

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Fast growing
• Has high reproductive potential
• Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year
• Reproduces asexually

• Monoculture formation
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Competition - shading
• Rapid growth

• Highly likely to be transported internationally accidentally
• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately
• Difficult to identify/detect as a commodity contaminant
• Difficult to identify/detect in the field

Economic Value

A. glauca is very useful as a nurse crop and cover crop in forest plantations, as a fallow species and in agroforestry systems. A. glauca and closely related species have been evaluated in many tropical countries as potential dry season forage species. Most were found to be highly tolerant of repeated defoliation, but palatability varied from only low to moderate, the foliage containing some toxic compounds, such as polyphenolics and non-protein amino acids, that have antinutritional effects in ruminants. Despite this, A. glauca has become an important forage or source of green manure in some locations (Cook et al., 2005). For example, A. glauca is used as a forage species in West Timor, Indonesia (Jukema and Danimihardja, 1997). It has also been proposed as a protein supplement in countries where low quality forages predominate (Bamualim et al., 1991; McSweeney et al., 2005).

The wood from A. glauca is used as a fuel, and from larger branches and stems it is also used for making household tools. In East Java, Indonesia, as well as Yunnan, South China, the species has been identified as one of the best host plants for the lac insect (Kerria lacca) for the production of lac (Jukema and Danimihardja, 1997; Hu et al., 2003).

Social Benefit

Medicinal uses of A. glauca in its native range in the Caribbean include an infusion of the roots or leaves in vinegar to relieve sore throats and coughs. It is also widely planted in the tropics as an ornamental shrub or small tree (Jukema and Danimihardja, 1997).

Environmental Services

A. glauca is largely planted to rehabilitate degraded and denuded land, and to stabilize terrace ridges (Jukema and Danimihardja, 1997).