Mangium
Acacia mangium Willd.
Mangium (Acacia mangium) is a very fast-growing nitrogen-fixing tree whose “leaves” are broad flattened leaf stalks (phyllodes); it is a key plantation species for pulp and plywood in Vietnam.
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Gallery
Mangium — Seeds & young plantsMangium — Whole tree
Mangium — Fruit & seeds
Mangium — Flowers
Mangium — Leaves
Mangium — Trunk & barkMangium — Seeds & young plantsMangium — Whole treeOverview
A tree 15–30 m tall with a straight trunk and fissured grey-brown bark. Phyllodes (“leaves”) are broad-ovate to oblong, 5–25 cm long and dark green. Tiny cream-yellow flowers form long axillary spikes; the flat, twisted pod splits at maturity, releasing shiny black seeds with orange arils.
Root nodules with nitrogen-fixing bacteria rapidly improve the soil. The light wood is used for pulp, plywood, furniture, flooring and fuel. Mangium crossed with earleaf acacia (A. auriculiformis) yields the widely planted “Acacia hybrid”.
Life cycle
From seed to productSeed
Black seeds with orange arils are hot-water treated and sown, sprouting in 2–4 weeks.
Seedling
Seedlings grow very fast, produce phyllodes early and have vigorous, nodulated roots.
Flowering
Cream-yellow spikes bloom profusely; trees flower from 2–3 years.
Fruiting · harvest
Pods dry, split and release seed; timber is harvested after 6–10 years.
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- Australia · New Guinea (native)16%
- Vietnam (planted)26%
- Indonesia · Malaysia22%
- India · South Asia18%
- Africa · South America18%
Chemical composition
Relative content in agarwood resin- TanninsIn bark36%
- FlavonoidsIn phyllodes28%
- Wood fibre (cellulose)Pulp material36%
Uses
- Pulpwood, plywood, furniture and flooring
- Fuelwood, charcoal; soil improvement by nitrogen fixation
- Windbreaks, erosion control, agroforestry shade
Properties
- “Leaf”
- Broad, dark-green phyllode
- Flower
- Cream-yellow, long spikes
- Fruit
- Flat twisted pod, orange aril
Habitat & conservation
Native to coastal and rainforest zones of northern Australia, New Guinea and the Moluccas; tolerates poor, acid, seasonally poorly drained soils; planted on barren hills, degraded land and sands.
Conservation
Not globally threatened (IUCN: Least Concern). Widely planted across the tropics; outside its native range it can spread and is regarded as invasive in some places, needing control.
References
- 1Plants of the World Online — Acacia mangium — Kew Science, 2024
- 2IUCN Red List — Acacia mangium — IUCN, 2019
- 3CABI Invasive Species Compendium — Acacia mangium — CABI, 2022
- 4Hình ảnh minh hoạ lấy từ Wikimedia Commons, tôn trọng giấy phép ghi kèm — Wikimedia Commons,
- 5Nguồn ảnh: J.M.Garg (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 6Nguồn ảnh: Forest & Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 7Nguồn ảnh: Vinayaraj (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 8Nguồn ảnh: Vinayaraj (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,