common names: cootamundra wattle
type collected: cultivated plant in Bowen Park, Brisbane, Qld, 1876 by F. M. Bailey
habit:variable large shrub to small tree, 4-12 m
foliage:ash grey-green bipinnate leaves, sometimes with purple, red and golden new growth. Individual leaves 5-7 mm x 1-1.5 mm, 12-20 leaves on each pinnae, 2-6 sets of pinnae on each rachis (leaf stem), crowded.
flowers: racemes of bright golden ball flowers, july-sep, some specimens produce a huge amount of flowers.
pods: broad, relatively flat, straight to slightly curved, 4-10 cm x 8-12 mm, slightly constricted between seeds.
seeds: longitudinal in pod, small aril.
distribution: originally restricted to an area within about 50 km's of Cootamundra in NSW, now widely cultivated and naturalised in most mainland states of Australia and other places like NZ and Sth Africa.
notes: this is probably the best known Australian acacia, only acacia pycantha, the national floral emblam is better known, but is probably not so widely cultivated. Due to alot of cultivation and interest there are many types or cultivars available, earlier and later flowering, prostrate and purple, red and yellow new growth forms. Apparently most of the seed from these cultivars (more than 80%) grow true to type, at least in the early and late flowering varieties. An extremely well known and much loved species. generally doesn't live to more than 20 years.