Species
Acacia baileyana
Etymology
Acacia: Derived from Greek 'akazo' to sharpen, meaning point; spine or thorn.
Common Name(s)
Cootamundra wattle
Authority
Acacia baileyana F.Muell.
Family
Fabaceae
Flora Category
Vascular - Exotic
Structural Class
Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs
Habitat
Waste places and scrubland.
Features
Small to fairly large tree with bipinnate glaucous leaves. The cultivated variety ''purpurea'' is also widely grown, this has purple-tinged leaves but is not known to be naturalised. Flowers consist of numerous globbose mid-yellow heads in racemes exceeding the leaves. The seed pod is more or less straight, up to 100 x 20 mm.
Similar Taxa
Easily distinguished from other naturalised wattles by the glaucous leaves with small, unequal pinnae.
Flowering
June, July, August.
Flower Colours
Yellow
Year Naturalised
1981
Origin
N.S.W (Australia)
Reason For Introduction
Forestry
Reproduction
Reproduces from seed.
Seed
Huge numbers of flowers are produced on plants as young as 2 years old. This results in high seed production. Germination is enhanced by fire or mechanical disturbance.
Dispersal
Widely spread as a cultivated plant. Seed dispersed a short distance form parent plant by wind and gravity.
Tolerances
Can tolerate a wide variety of conditions, does particularly well in dry areas.
This page last updated on 9 Aug 2011