Mulga woodlands cover 20% of the Australian continent. Acacia belong to the Mimosaceae family.There are 880 species of acacia that occur in Australia, 118 in the arid zone. 75% of the worlds Acacias are found in Australia, however some of our most rare are not endemic, for instance Acacia peuce - the Waddy Tree which only grows in two small areas on either side of the Simpson Desert is also found in East Africa! Acacia belong to the Mimosaceae family.

The most common is Acacia aueura - the Mulga, which takes on several forms. One is the round form found in sandhill country, another is the Christmas Tree form, another the weeping tree form, and another like an umbrella inside out - with phyllodes reaching to the sky to funnel water to its roots. These types are found on red unfertile earths.

There are two main kinds of Mulga woodlands. These are either where there are perennial grasses as the understorey - usually Eragrostis eriopoda , or annual grasses and herbs. They are called perennial Mulga or annual Mulga respectively.
Mulga trees take nutrients from their roots and recycle them as leaf litter on the surface, up to 6000 kilograms of litter after a series of wet seasons. Acacias are very important food plants. Mulga seeds can be collected off the tree or on the ground, where they are cleaned, roasted, ground to a paste and then eaten. Lava of up to ten different species of wasp produce galls on the Mulga. The marble shaped Mulga Apple is the only one that is edible. It is sweet and tastes similar to an apple. A lerp scale, which infests large areas of mulga, produces small red protuberances on the branches, which are very sweet when fresh (and the ants haven't got to them). Honey Ants can live at the base of Mulga trees.
The ash of the Mulga is mixed with Pituri to form a chewing tobacco. In the first of these two pictures, Peter has just picked a huge clump of Pituri (native tobacco). In the second picture Topsy is grinding the Pituri with white mulga ash to prepare it for chewing. Pituri is of the Nicotiana family and contains a strong alkaloid. Whilst most have a similar effect to smoking tobacco, one is reputed to be mildly halucinogenic, and has the humerous name of Nicotiana goodspeedii
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