Acacia aphylla is a leafless, spiny, glaucous shrub native to the Darling Range east of Perth, Western Australia, grown mainly for its bright golden flower heads. It is a rare wild species; the key to growing it is free-draining soil and full sun, as it naturally grows among rocky outcrops.
Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly once established; let the soil dry out fully between waterings.
Soil
Free-draining sandy, gravelly or loam mix; rocky or lateritic soils suit it best.
Temperature
10–35 °C; tolerates mild frost but protect from hard freezes.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
WSW. Western Australia
Climate
subtropical
About
Acacia aphylla, commonly known as leafless rock wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to an area around Perth in Western Australia. It is a widely branched shrub with glaucous, sharply-pointed branchlets, flowers arranged in spherical light golden heads, and leathery, linear pods.
Where it grows
Leafless rock wattle has a restricted range and is only found in two areas in the Darling Range about 60 kilometres (37 mi) apart from each other. The areas are both to the east of Perth with one population being found in Hidden Valley area in the Helena River and the other south of Northam in the Clackline Nature Reserve. The species is commonly found in open forest communities that are dominated by Eucalyptus marginata and Eucalyptus calophylla, or in woodlands where Eucalyptus loxophleba dominates. Species commonly found in the understorey include Grevillea endlicheriana, Hakea petiolaris, and Xanthorrhoea preissii. It is generally associated with areas of laterite and granite outcrops on hillsides, and will grow in rock crevices. It is mostly found to grow in soils that are sandy, loam, clay, or gravel and brown or yellow in colour.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Acacia aphylla by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.