Friday, August 15, 2008

Sydney Golden Wattle


Let misers hoard and hide their gold;
Here there is treasure-trove untold,
In yellow blossom, mass on mass
Spread out for wayfarers who pass
With hearts to feel, and eyes to see
How lovely is the wattle tree.

The Wattle Tree, Dora Wilcox

This is my Sydney Golden Wattle (Acacia longifolia); the cylindrical
flower-heads are about 4cm long. We tend to think of wattles as having round flower-heads, but this isn't always the case. My tree has a shrubby habit and is about 3m tall. They'll grow to 8m but, like most acacias, aren't long-lived. Unlike my other wattles, this species has large leaves (actually phyllodes, but I'll leave that to the botanists to discuss). It is only lightly scented, but to me the smell has an undertone of rotting vegetation. I'm glad it's right up the back and that its scent is overpowered by that of the Fringe Wattle! This is one I won't be growing again. The next one I try will be our national flower, A. pycnantha.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You do have quite a few wattles then!
You must feel quite patriotic with all that green and gold around you ;)
More pics please!

Tycho said...

Hey Chook,
We don't got Wattle (which is looking lovely Idaresay), just a whopping great avocado tree (small green fruit, maybe you've seen them around)
Hey, how did you post to my .mac page? I can't even get that to work...

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Finally I get to see quite a collection of wattles, wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Hello Chookie
Would you mind if I used this photo in a gardening column about Sydney Golden Wattle?

Chookie said...

You may, but please credit the blog and let me know about the publication.