Raspberry Jam Tree

This tree is so interesting.

First and foremost, when you saw its wood, it smells like raspberry jam.

Second, fenceposts made of it are still in perfect condition a whole century later. Western Australia has millions of these fenceposts (more all the time, in principle).

Third, being in the legume family, it fixes its own nitrogen.

Fourth, the wood, like most acacia, is beautiful and strong, good for furniture.

Finally, it produces large amounts (~1%) of very interesting alkaloids in its bark and leaves, naturally. (It looks like the "narrow phylodes" variety produces most.)

Most US nurseries don't even admit there is such a genus as Acacia, of any kind, never mind sell them in pots, or ship cuttings. A couple that do, one in Arizona and one in Oak View, California, will ship cuttings from a bunch of Acacia spp., but not this one. Australian nurseries also mostly don't admit this one exists, and anyway won't ship cuttings overseas. I found one person in Australia who sells seeds (remarkably cheaply) on Etsy.

The bigger mystery is why US nurseries have never heard of Acacia. It is not as if it encompasses much fewer than a thousand species, even after big chunks of the genus were split off.

"If you lack a gold battle-axe inlaid with bronze, a heavy club of acacia wood will do" — Amenhotep II