Silver wattle is a fantastic exotic tree all year round but when in flower (Jan - Mar) it really stands out. Due to the tree being native to Australia it can only tolerate (usually) the milder winters so is better suited in the South West of the UK. As beautiful as this tree is there are not many about in Exeter.
Acacia dealbata (known as silver wattle, blue wattle or mimosa) is a species of Acacia, native to southeastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory and widely introduced in Mediterranean, warm temperate, and highland tropical landscapes.
It is a fast-growing evergreen tree or shrub growing up to 30 m tall, typically a pioneer species after fire. The leaves are bipinnate, glaucous blue-green to silvery grey, 1–12 cm (occasionally to 17 cm) long and 1–11 cm broad, with 6–30 pairs of pinnae, each pinna divided into 10–68 pairs of leaflets; the leaflets are 0.7–6 mm long and 0.4–1 mm broad.
The flowers are produced in large racemose inflorescences made up of numerous smaller globose bright yellow flowerheads of 13–42 individual flowers.
The fruit is a flattened pod 2–11.5 cm long and 6–14 mm broad, containing several seeds. Trees generally do not live longer than 30 to 40 years, after which in the wild they are succeeded by other species where bushfires are excluded.
In moist mountain areas, a white lichen can almost cover the bark, which may contribute to the descriptor "silver". The Latin specific epithet dealbata also means "covered in a white powder"
Acacia dealbata is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant in warm temperate regions of the world and is naturalised in some areas, including Sochi (Black Sea coast of Russia), southwestern Western Australia, southeastern South Australia, Norfolk Island, the Mediterranean region from Portugal to Greece and Morocco to Israel, Yalta (Crimea, Ukraine), California, Madagascar, southern Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe), the highlands of southern India, south-western China and Chil.
It does not survive prolonged frost. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The timber is useful for furniture and indoor work, but has limited uses, mainly in craft furniture and turning. It has a honey colour, often with distinctive figures like birdseye and tiger stripes. It has a medium weight (540–720 kg/m³), and is similar to its close relative blackwood, but of lighter tone without the dark heartwood.
The flowers and tip shoots are harvested for use as cut flowers, when it is known by the florist trade as "mimosa". In Italy, Albania, Russia and Georgia the flowers are also frequently given to women on International Women's Day. The essence of the flowers, called 'cassie' or 'opopanax', is used in perfumes. The leaves are sometimes used in Indian chutney.
===Scientific classification===
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Clade: Mimosoideae
Genus: Acacia
Species: A. dealbata
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