White ball acacia

• Thornless shrub or small tree generally 2–7m tall, sometimes up to 12m, with single short trunk.
• Leaves are bipinnate, 10–21cm long, usually have 10–17 pairs of pinnae.
• Each leaf is borne on a stalk 20–45 mm long and has 9–25 pairs of branchlets. Leaf stalks and leaf branchlets have a covering of soft hairs.
• Pinnae are 2.5–5cm long, each bears 20–40 pairs of leaflets. Leaflets are small, 2.4–5mm long, 0.5–2mm wide, with pointed tips and entire margins.
• Flowers are whitish, in globular or elliptical clusters 1–1.5cm across.
• Pods are flat, thin-walled, papery, oblong, 3–9cm long, 6–15mm wide, with straight or sinuate margins.
• Pods are acute at base and apex, with stripe 7–12mm long and beak 2–7mm long.
• Pods contain 8–12 circular seeds 2.5–3.2mm across.

• Best adapted to seasonally dry tropical areas with annual rainfall 400–3,000mm.

• Found at scattered locations around Queensland.

• Produces large number of seeds.
• Seed banks are long-lived.
• May also produce new shoots through root suckering.
• Flowering occurs year-round.

Environmental

• Escapes cultivation and invades nearby habitats.
• Forms dense thickets that exclude more desirable pasture plants and native vegetation.
• Potential to become a widespread and abundant invasive plant of much of northern Queensland's dry tropical woodlands and riparian areas, extending to subcoastal and coastal southern Queensland.

• Spread by cattle and water.

• Find out how farmers can prevent weed spread.
• Find out how gardeners and outdoor enthusiasts can prevent weed spread.

• Before undertaking any preventative or control actions, contact us online, by phone or in person.

• White ball acacia is a category 2, 3, 4 and 5 restricted invasive plant under the Biosecurity Act 2014. You must not:
  • move it
  • keep it
  • give it away
  • sell it
  • release it into the environment.

  If you do any of these, penalties may apply.

• You must take all reasonable and practical measures that are under your control to minimise the biosecurity risks associated with dealing with white ball acacia. This is part of your general biosecurity obligation.
• You must report any sightings within 24 hours using 1 of these methods:
  • Report online.
  • Phone Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.
  • Contact your local government.
• Each local government must have a biosecurity plan that covers invasive plants in its area. This plan may include actions to be taken for white ball acacia. Some of these actions may be required under local laws. Contact your local government for more information.