Flowering also changes the palatability of tagasaste. In Western Australia it will commence flowering in winter (~ June). The seeds are mature and shed in early summer (first warm day in December). In the summer following flowering the palatability changes in different parts of the plant. In tagasaste that has not flowered the leaves will be grazed and bark on the stems ignored. After flowering the leaf becomes less palatable and the bark more palatable. This results in stock stripping bark off the trunk. Also the growth rate of the plant slows and leaves will be shed. The grazing management is designed to prevent flowering and keep tagasaste in the vegetative juvenile state. Trials have shown that if tagasaste is heavily grazed an or mechanically cut in the first six months of the year, it will not flower in the second half of the year. Occasionally when mechanically cutting, one limb on a plant can be missed. This limb will go on to flower, and show all the other problems, while the rest of the plant is maintained in a vegetative state.