Family: Leguminosae (Mimosoideae)

Origin: eastern Australia

An evergreen small tree or shrub up to 7 m tall, much branched, with leathery, narrow grey-green leaf-like phyllodes, up to 15 cm long x 2 cm wide. The bright yellow flower spikes, which are almost cylindrical, are up to 6 cm long, and are produced in the axils of the phyllodes in spring.

Introduced to the British Isles in1792 and grown as a cool greenhouse plant, but it can survive all but the hardest frosts outdoors in milder localities.

The name Acacia is derived from the Greek akis, meaning a sharp point.