Acacia decora

Reichb. f.

Showy Wattle, Western Silver Wattle

FabaceaeBark/Sap
Acacia decora
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(c) Chris Lindorff, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Chris Lindorff
Acacia decora
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc-sa
(c) Arthur Chapman, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Arthur Chapman
Acacia decora
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) discover_gondwana, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by discover_gondwana

What to Eat

Edible parts: Gum

The gum is eaten.

Where to Find It

It is a warm temperate and subtropical plant. It occurs naturally in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. It prefers light to medium soils. It suits a sunny position but can grow in light shade. It is drought resistant but is probably damaged by frost. It suits hardiness zones 8-11.

Australia*,

Countries: Australia

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree. It grows 5 m tall. There are prickles along the stem. The leaves are twice divided and there are 8-18 pairs of pinnae. There are up to 50 pairs of pinnules on each pinnae. The flowers are yellow. They are in large clusters at the ends of branches. The pods are flattened.

How to Grow

It is grown from seed. The seed need treatment to break the hard seed coat. Normally this is by putting the seeds in very hot water and letting the water cool down overnight then planting the seeds immediately. It can be grown from cuttings. Trees can be pruned.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Acacia decora, commonly known as western silver wattle and showy wattle and other common names, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with lance-shaped, narrowly elliptic or more or less linear phyllodes, spherical heads of golden yellow flowers and papery to leathery pods.

Notes

There are about 1,350 Acacia species. Over 1,000 occur in Australia. Also as Mimosaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Pretty wattle, Western Golden Wattle

References (18)
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  • Irvine,
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  • Melzer, R. & Plumb, J., 2011, Plants of Capricornia. Belgamba, Rockhampton. p 185
  • Molyneux, B. and Forrester, S., 1997, The Austraflora A-Z of Australian Plants. Reed. p 33
  • Townsend, K., 1994, Across the Top. Gardening with Australian Plants in the tropics. Society for Growing Australian Plants, Townsville Branch Inc. p 52
  • Townsend, K., 1999, Field Guide to Plants of the Dry Tropics. Society for Growing Australian Plants, Townsville Branch Inc. p 14
  • Usher, G., 1974, A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable. p 12
  • World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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