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Acacia dealbata
Also called Mimosa, Blue Wattle, Silver Wattle, Blue Wattle, Mimosa
Silver wattle is a fast-growing, bushy shrub or spreading tree from south-eastern Australia, grown for its silvery-blue foliage and fragrant yellow pompom flowers. It is best in a sheltered, sunny spot with acid or neutral soil, and it is invasive in many warm regions.
Acacia dealbata, commonly known as silver wattle, blue wattle or mimosa, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is endemic to south-eastern mainland Australia but it can be found as an introduced or invasive species elsewhere. It is a bushy shrub or spreading tree with smooth bark, bluish grey or silvery and glaucous bipinnate leaves, spherical heads of yellow to bright yellow flowers, and straight to slightly curved pods. The Wiradjuri people of New South Wales use the name giigandul for the species.
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 Chile. It is hardy down to −5 °C (23 °F), but does not survive prolonged frost. It prefers a sheltered position in full sun, with acid or neutral soil. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Acacia dealbata is native to New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, where it grows in forest or woodland in a variety of soils, often on slopes and creek banks. Subspecies subalpina has a narrower distribution from south of the Brindabella Range and Braidwood in New South Wales to the Bonang and Gelantipy areas in north-eastern Victoria.
The flowers and tip shoots are harvested for use as cut flowers, when it is known by the florist trade as "mimosa" (not to be confused with the genus of plants called 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 'mimosa', or in older texts, 'cassie', is used in perfumes. The leaves are sometimes used in Indian chutney.
Jam wattle · Mulga · Acacia aneura var. major · Mulga · Earleaf acacia · Cootamundra wattle · Gidgee · Bower wattle · Cole's Wattle · Small Philippine acacia · Knife acacia · Graceful wattle
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Acacia dealbata 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.
