Native Australian Acacias: Unrealised Ornamental Potential

Abstract

cacia , commonly known as wattle, is the largest genus of flowering plants in Australia. Over 950 species have been identified on the continent, constituting mor e than half of the 1352 species found worldwide (Maslin, 2001; Maslin and Or char d, 2004). W attles have integrated with the Australian “identity”, giving rise to symbolic use at national and local community levels. A. buxifolia , or its close r elative, was incorporated into the Australian Coat of Arms in 1912. It was adopted as a symbol of unification because of widespr ead occurr ence of the Acacia genus acr oss the continent (Fig. 1A, B; W orld W ide W attle, 2009). A. pycnantha (Golden W attle) had long been popularly r egar ded as Australia’ s national flower . It was of ficially pr oclaimed her national floral emblem in 1988 (Fig. 1C; Australian Symbols, 2000). Declaration of the national flower was linked to pr oclaiming September 1st as W attle Day . The pr edominant gr een and gold colours of wattle foliage and flowers, r espectively , ar e the country’ s of ficial national colours (Australian Symbols, 2000). Furthermor e, many of the Australian medals of honour that r ecognise achievement or meritorious service featur e wattles, e.g. The Or der of Australia. Some shir es ar ound the country , such as Dalwallinu, Hyden and Cootamundra, have adopted local species of wattle as their floral emblem. In these instances the species ar e A. anthochaera (Kimberly’ s wattle), A. lanei and A. baileyana (Cootamundra wattle), r espectively (W orld W ide W attle, 2009).