On researching one of our local trees: Acacia cambagei, commonly known as gidgee, stinking wattle or stinking gidgee, can form extensive open woodland communities and can reach up to 12 m in height. The leaves, bark, and litter of Acacia cambagei produce a characteristic odour, vaguely reminiscent of boiled cabbage, that accounts for the common name of "stinking gidgee". It is an endemic tree of Australia. It is found primarily in arid and semi-arid zones of Queensland and extends into the Northern Territory, South Australia and north-western New South Wales. Acacia cambagei is confined to regions between 550 and 200 mm annual rainfall. Acacia cambagei is found primarily on flat and gently undulating terrain on heavy and relatively fertile clay and clay-loam soils in the eastern part of it range, and often forms mixed communities with brigalow which favours the same soil types. In drier zones, gidgee is found primarily on red earth and loams in wetter depression and low-relief areas. A number of species associated with gidgee have a limited capacity to resprout following fire damage. Fire in any gidgee woodland would be a rare event under natural circumstances, since pasture is at best sparse in these communities.
Plant Identification in the Arid Zone by Jenny Milson adds: Tree to 10m or more tall with dark, grey and flaky bark. Tough leaves are curved on the tis are greyish and when young are distinctly aromatic . Flower heads are balls of 15 to 25 flowers, flat pods grow to 13cm long and 1.2cm wide. The tree occurs in dense stands on cracking clay soils and more sparsely on lighter soils and hard mulga areas. Stock generally avoid eating the plant except under special circumstances. Where growing thickly, very little else grows and some such areas have been cleared with mixed results. The hard, durable wood is useful for fence posts.
To find the cache S 24 _ _._ _ _ E 145 _ _._ _ _