{{Short description|Species of tree}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2011}} {{Speciesbox |name = Marblewood |image = Acacia bakeri leaves.JPG |status = VU |status_system = NSWBCA |genus = Acacia |species = bakeri |authority = Maiden<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Acacia adunca'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/58178 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date = 25 April 2024}}</ref> |synonyms_ref = <ref name="APC" /> |synonyms = * ''Acacia striata'' <small>W.Hill nom. illeg.</small> * ''Racosperma bakeri'' <small>(Maiden) Pedley</small> |range_map = Acacia bakeriDistMap95.png |range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH }}
'''''Acacia bakeri''''', known as the '''marblewood''', '''white marblewood''', '''Baker's wattle''', '''scrub wattle''' or '''white wattle''', is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect or spreading tree with narrowly elliptic to lance-shaped phyllodes, spherical heads of pale yellow to cream-coloured flowers, and papery pods up to {{cvt|200|mm}} long. It is probably the largest species of ''Acacia'' in Australia
==Description== ''Acacia bakeri'' is an erect or spreading tree that grows to a height of up to {{cvt|40|m}}, with a dbh of {{cvt|90|cm}}, making it one of the largest ''Acacia'' species in Australia. At the time of its discovery, it was recorded as reaching about {{cvt|50|m}}, but now rarely exceeds {{cvt|8|m}}.<ref name="FoA">{{cite web |last1=Maslin |first1=Bruce R. |editor-last1=Kodela |editor-first1=Phillip G. |title=''Acacia bakeri'' |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Acacia%20bakeri |publisher=Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref><ref name=lucid>{{cite web|url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/wattle/text/entities/acacia_bakeri.htm|title=''Acacia bakeri'' Maiden|work=Wattle - Acacias of Australia|access-date=22 August 2019|publisher=Lucid Central|year=2018}}</ref><ref name="www">{{cite web |title=''Acacia bakeri'' |url=https://worldwidewattle.com/speciesgallery/bakeri.php |publisher=World Wide Wattle |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref> The bark is greyish-brown, the branchlets reddish and glabrous. Its phyllodes are narrowly elliptic to broadly elliptic or lance-shaped, {{cvt|50–120|mm}} long, mostly {{cvt|15–30|mm}} wide, thinly leathery and glabrous with two to four prominent veins on each side. The flowers are arranged in spherical heads in clusters of two to four {{cvt|5–10|mm}} long, each head with 10 to 20 pale yellow to cream-coloured flowers. Flowering occurs from about August to November, and the pods are papery, up to {{cvt|200|mm}} long and {{cvt|10–16|mm}} wide and constricted between the seeds. The seeds are oblong to broadly elliptic, dark brown and flattened, {{cvt|6–10|mm}} long.<ref name="FoA" /><ref name="lucid" /><ref name="www" /><ref name="RBGS">{{cite web |last1=Kodela |first1=Phillip G. |last2=Harden |first2=Gwen J. |title='' Acacia bakeri'' |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Acacia~bakeri |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref><ref name="Floyd">{{cite book |last1=Flloyd |first1=Alex G. |title=Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia |date=1989 |publisher=Terania Rainforest Publishing |location=Terania Rainforest Publishing |pages=210}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== ''Acacia bakeri'' was first formally described in 1896 by the botanist Joseph Maiden in the ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales'' from specimens collected near Mullumbimby by William Baeuerlen.<ref name="APNI">{{cite web |title=''Acacia bakeri'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/463303 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=5 March 2025}}</ref><ref name="Maiden">{{cite journal |last1=Maiden |first1=Joseph H. |title=A giant ''Acacia'' from the Brunswick River. |journal=Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales |date=1896 |series=2 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=337–339 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/30097#page/391/mode/1up |access-date=5 March 2025}}</ref> The specific epithet honours Richard Thomas Baker who worked for the Sydney Technological Museum and collected the type specimen.<ref name="RBGS" /> This species is thought to be allied with ''A. binervata'' and part of a group of species closely related ''A. rothii''.<ref name=lucid/>
==Distribution and habitat== Marblewood grows in lowland subtropical rainforest and in the margins of rainforest from near the Burrum River near Maryborough in south-east Queensland to Brunswick Heads and Mullumbimby in northeastern New South Wales.<ref name="FoA" /><ref name="lucid" />
==Ecology== The seeds of ''A. bakeri'' are unusual, in that they may begin to germinate before the pods fall from the tree.<ref name="www" />
==Conservation status== ''Acacia bakeri'' is listed as "vulnerable" under the New South Wales Government Office of Environment and Heritage ''Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016'',<ref name="OEH">{{cite web |title=Marblewood - profile |url=https://threatenedspecies.bionet.nsw.gov.au/profile?id=10004 |publisher=New South Wales Government Office of Environment and Heritage |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref> but as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government ''Nature Conservation Act 1992''.<ref name="DES">{{cite web |title=Species profile—''Acacia bakeri'' (marblewood) |url=https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species-search/details/?id=11888 |publisher=Queensland Government Department of Education and Science |access-date=6 March 2025}}</ref> The species may be in danger of extinction, because of the extensive clearing of rainforest.<ref name="www" /> Most plants are on private property.<ref name="OEH" />
==Uses== The timber of ''A. bakeri'' is yellowish, hard and close-grained, making it suitable for flooring, cabinet work and tool handles.<ref name="www" />
==See also== * List of ''Acacia'' species
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q4670871}}
bakeri Category:Fabales of Australia Category:Trees of Australia Category:Flora of New South Wales Category:Flora of Queensland Category:Plants described in 1896 Category:Taxa named by Joseph Maiden