Plant · P-080

Silver Wattle

Acacia dealbata

Silver Wattle is a fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing tree whose violet-scented yellow flowers are the florist mimosa sold for perfume and cut arrangements. Its bark runs high enough in tannin to have been harvested commercially, and cooked flowers and a trunk gum see occasional use as food. It suckers freely once mature and resprouts hard after cutting or fire, building a seed bank that can lie dormant for decades and germinate after a burn - traits that make it a self-renewing coppice stand where it is wanted, and a persistent colonizer where it is not. It needs mildly acid, well-drained soil and turns chlorotic on lime, and it is short-lived, typically 30 to 40 years.