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Acacia (Wattle)

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Acacia, known commonly as acacia or wattle, is a genus of shrubs and trees. The majority of Australian Acacias are not thorny. All species are pod-bearing, with sap and leaves often bearing large amounts of tannins and condensed tannins that historically found use as pharmaceuticals and preservatives.

Acacias in Australia probably evolved their fire resistance about 20 million years ago when fossilised charcoal deposits show a large increase, indicating that fire was a factor even then. With no major mountain ranges or rivers to prevent their spread, the wattles began to spread all over the continent as it dried and fires became more common. They began to form dry, open forests with species of the genera Casuarina, Eucalyptus and Callitris.

The leaves of acacias are compound pinnate in general. In some species, however, more especially in the Australian and Pacific islands species, the leaflets are suppressed, and the leaf-stalks become vertically flattened in order to serve the purpose of leaves. These are known as “phyllodes”. The vertical orientation of the phyllodes protects them from intense sunlight since with their edges towards the sky and earth they do not intercept light as fully as horizontally placed leaves. A few species lack leaves or phyllodes but instead possess cladodes, modified leaf-like photosynthetic stems functioning as leaves.

The small flowers have five very small petals, almost hidden by the long stamens, and are arranged in dense, globular or cylindrical clusters; they are yellow or cream-colored in most species, whitish in some, or even purple or red. Acacia flowers have more than ten stamens.


Acacias are loved & needed by:

Wedge-tailed Eagle

The Wedge-tailed Eagle (Tasmanian) is found only in Tasmania and nearby islands. The distribution of the Wedge-tailed Eagle (Tasmanian) is naturally fragmented. This is because the eagles occupy very large home ranges and have territories that are very widely dispersed. READ MORE


The Quokka occurs on two offshore islands (Rottnest Island and Bald Island) and a number of mainland sites in south-west Western Australia. The distribution of this species is severely fragmented and there is little to no migration between populations. The Quokka is confirmed from ten locations, in which there are seven distinct sub-populations. All populations are considered important for the long-term survival of the species. However, mainland populations are particularly important as they contain the highest levels of genetic diversity. READ MORE

Orange-bellied Parrot

The Orange-bellied Parrot is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Its current non-breeding mainland distribution is from the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia, along the coast, to South Gippsland, Victoria, covering approximately 1000 km of coastline. READ MORE