Abies grandis is a large evergreen conifer growing to 40–70 metres (130–230 feet) tall, exceptionally 100 m (330 ft), with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in). The dead tree tops sometimes fork into new growth. The bark is 5 centimetres (2 inches) thick, reddish to gray (but purple within), furrowed, and divided into slender plates. The leaves are needle-like, flattened, 3–6 cm (1+1⁄8–2+3⁄8 in) long and 2 millimetres (3⁄32 in) wide by 0.5 mm thick, glossy dark green above, with two green-white bands of stomata below, and slightly notched at the tip. The leaf arrangement is spiral on the shoot, but with each leaf variably twisted at the base so they all lie in two more-or-less flat ranks on either side of the shoot. On the lower leaf surface, two green-white bands of stomata are prominent. The base of each leaf is twisted a variable amount so that the leaves are nearly coplanar.
The green-to-reddish cones are 6–12 cm (2+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 in) long and 3.5–4.5 cm (1+1⁄2–1+3⁄4 in) broad, with about 100–150 scales; the scale bracts are short, and hidden in the closed cone. The winged seeds are released when the cones disintegrate at maturity about 6 months after pollination.


There are two varieties, probably better treated at subspecies rank though not yet formally published as such:
Abies grandis var. grandis. Coast grand fir. Coastal lowland forests, at sea level to 900 m altitude, from Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia, south to Sonoma County, California. A large, very fast-growing tree to 70 m tall. Foliage strongly flattened on all shoots. Cones slightly narrower (mostly less than 4 cm broad), with thinner, fairly flexible scales. Tolerates winter temperatures down to about -25° to -30 °C; growth on good sites may exceed 1.5 m per year when young.
Abies grandis var. idahoensis. Interior grand fir. Interior forests, at (600–) 900–1800 m altitude, on the east slope of the Cascades in Washington and northern Oregon and in the Rocky Mountains from southeast British Columbia south to central Idaho, northeast Oregon and western Montana. A smaller, slow-growing tree to 40–45 m tall. Foliage not strongly flattened on all shoots, the leaves often raised above the shoot, particularly on upper crown shoots. Cones slightly stouter (mostly over 4 cm broad), with thicker, slightly woody scales. Tolerates winter temperatures down to about -40 °C; growth on good sites not exceeding 0.6 m per year even when young.
Grand fir is very closely related to white fir, with the interior variety idahoensis particularly similar to the western forms of white fir from western Oregon and California, intergrading with it where they meet in the Cascades of central Oregon.


The species was first described by Scottish botanical explorer David Douglas, who in 1830 brought its seeds back to Britain; in 1831 he described specimens he had collected along the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest.


The grand fir grows along the coast from southwest British Columbia to Northern California, with the inland variety growing in eastern areas of Washington and Oregon, and the Idaho Panhandle. It can be found growing at elevations of up to 1,700 m (5,600 ft). Habitats typically receive at least 64 centimetres (25 inches) of annual rainfall, but are still too dry or outside the range of more shade-tolerant competitors like western hemlock and western redcedar. Along with the closely related white fir, grand fir is more shade tolerant than Douglas-fir. Due to wildfire suppression, grand fir was able to proliferate in areas previously dominated by the relatively fire-resistant inland Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, and western larch. The lack of smaller fires allows both grand and white fir saplings to form a fuel ladder, enabling crown fires. Grand fir's bark is thinner than that of white fir, making the former species more susceptible to threats like fire and rot.
Specimens have historically been able to live up to nearly 300 years, but in modern stressed conditions, 100 years is more typical. A number of defoliating insects threaten the tree; in the late 20th century, western spruce budworm epidemics killed sizable populations of grand fir in the eastern Cascades and Blue Mountains. The lack of an ability to use pitch to patch wounds, including those from logging and small fires, provides a weakness exploited by rot fungi. East of the Cascade ridge, grand fir trunks are infected by Indian paint fungus, indicating a rotten core; such specimens are often waterlogged and thus crack apart in freezing weather.
Pileated woodpeckers search grand and white firs for insects and places to nest. Rotten cores open shelters for various animals, including black bears. The boughs create a rain shelter for humans.


Native Americans used both grand fir and white fir, powdering the bark or pitch to treat tuberculosis or skin ailments; the Nlaka'pamux used the bark to cover lodges and make canoes, and branches were used as bedding. The inner bark of the grand fir was used by some Plateau Indian tribes for treating colds and fever.
The Okanagan-Colville tribe used the species as a strengthening drug to nullify the feeling of weakness.
The foliage has an attractive citrus-like scent. It is sometimes used for Christmas decorations in the United States, including Christmas trees, although its stiff branches do not allow it to be economically packed. It is also planted as an ornamental tree in large parks.


The lumber is non-resinous and fine textured.
In the North American logging industry, the grand fir is often referred to as "hem fir", with hem fir being a number of species with interchangeable types of wood (specifically the California red fir, noble fir, Pacific silver fir, white fir, and western hemlock). Grand fir is often shipped along with these other species. It can also referred to as "white fir" lumber, an umbrella term also referring to Abies amabilis, Abies concolor, and Abies magnifica.
Lumber from the grand fir is considered a softwood. As such, it is used for paper making, packing crates, and construction. Hem fir is frequently used for framing, and is able to meet the building code span requirements of numerous construction projects.
As a hem fir, the trunk of the grand fir is considered slightly below the "Douglas fir-larch" species combination in strength, and stronger than the "Douglas fir-South" and "spruce-pine-fir (South)" species combos (both umbrella terms for a number of species with similar wood). Because it is nearly as strong as Douglas fir-larch, it often meets the structural load-bearing requirements for framing in residential, light commercial, and heavy construction. Excluding Douglas fir-larch, hem fir's modulus of elasticity value as a stiffness factor in floor systems (denoted as MOE or E) is stronger than all other western species combinations. Hem fir is preferred by many builders because of its ability to hold and not be split by nails and screws, and its low propensity for splintering when sawed.


Abies lasiocarpa, the subalpine fir or Rocky Mountain fir, is a western North American fir tree.


Abies lasiocarpa is a medium-sized evergreen conifer with a very narrow conic crown, growing to 20 metres (66 ft) tall, exceptionally 40–50 m (130–160 ft), with a trunk up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) thick, exceptionally 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in). The bark on young trees is smooth, gray, and with resin blisters, becoming rough and fissured or scaly on old trees. The lowest branches can be observed growing 1 m (3 ft 3 in) above ground level. The leaves are flat and needle-like, 1.5–3 centimetres (5⁄8–1+1⁄8 in) long, glaucous green above with a broad stripe of stomata, and two blue-white stomatal bands below; the fresh leaf scars are reddish (tan on the inland variety). They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but with the leaf bases twisted to be arranged to the sides of and above the shoot, with few or none below the shoot. The cones are erect, 6–12 cm (2+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 in) long, dark purple with fine yellow-brown pubescence, ripening brown and disintegrating to release the winged seeds in early fall.


There are two to three taxa in subalpine fir, treated very differently by different authors:
The Coast Range subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in the narrow sense, is the typical form of the species, occurring in the Pacific Coast Ranges, the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range from Southeast Alaska (Panhandle mountains) south to California.
The Rocky Mountains subalpine fir is very closely related and of disputed status, being variously treated as a distinct species Abies bifolia, as a variety of Coast Range subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa var. bifolia, or not distinguished from typical A. lasiocarpa at all. It occurs in the Rocky Mountains from Southeast Alaska (eastern Alaska Range) south to Colorado. It differs primarily in the chemical composition of its resin, microscopic features, and in the fresh leaf scars being yellow-brown, not reddish. The Flora of North America treats it as a distinct species, while the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) includes it within A. lasiocarpa without distinction.
The corkbark fir Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica occurs in Arizona and New Mexico. It differs in thicker, corky bark and more strongly glaucous foliage. In resin composition it is closer to A. bifolia than to typical A. lasiocarpa, though the combination "Abies bifolia var. arizonica" has not been formally published. The Flora of North America includes it within A. bifolia without distinction; the USDA treats it as a distinct variety of A. lasiocarpa.


The species is native to the mountains of Yukon, British Columbia and western Alberta in Western Canada; and to Southeast Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Western Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, northeastern Nevada, and the Trinity Alps of the Klamath Mountains in northwestern California in the Western United States.
It occurs at high altitudes, commonly found at and immediately below the tree line. It can be found at elevations of 300–900 m (980–2,950 ft) in the north of the range (rarely down to sea level in the far north), to 2,400–3,650 m (7,870–11,980 ft) in the south of the range. West of the Cascade ridge, it can be found at elevations of 1,200–2,000 m (3,900–6,600 ft), while further east (particularly in Western Montana) it can be found from 1,500 to 2,700 m (4,900 to 8,900 ft).


Annual precipitation ranges from 380 cm (150 in) in coastal mountain sites to only 65 cm (26 in) inland. Snow gathered on the branches helps protect them from wind and heat. Firs in general act as a snow fence, leading to the creation of meadows through extra moisture accumulation.
The tree is highly shade tolerant, but very vulnerable to fire, short-lived, and slow-growing. Despite having weaker wood than some of its timberline associates, it can survive by its ability to adapt (growing in a krummholz form) and reproduce via layering in clusters at high elevations. At timberline, a single tree can leave behind a ring of trees (an 'atoll') via layering. The species has benefited from wildfire suppression in more recent years.
Various animals, including mountain goats, take shelter in subalpine fir clusters and krummholz. The bark is browsed by game animals and its leaves are eaten by grouse. Songbirds, Richardson's grouse, Cascade pine squirrels, and other mammals consume the seeds. It is host to pathogenic fungi such as the species Delphinella balsameae.


Native Americans used the leaves as deodorant and burned them as incense or medicinal vapor. Powdered bark and other components were used in solutions to treat colds. Resin was used to dress wounds or chewed as gum. The tree boughs were used for bedding. Some Plateau Indian tribes drank or washed in a subalpine fir boil for purification or to make their hair grow.
The light wood is considered poor quality, but sometimes used for wood pulp, general structural purposes and paper manufacture. It is also a popular Christmas tree. It is a popular ornamental tree for parks and large gardens, grown for its strongly glaucous-blue foliage. It can also function as a bonsai. The cultivar Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Compacta' is suitable for smaller gardens, growing as a shrub to 4 m (13 ft) tall by 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) broad. In the UK It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The largest-known specimen, measuring 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) thick and 39 m (129 ft) tall, had a small door in its trunk and a storage space, which the film crew of the Disney-produced documentary The Olympic Elk (1952) used to store equipment.


Abies sibirica, the Siberian fir, is a coniferous evergreen tree native to the taiga east of the Volga River and south of 67°40' North latitude in Siberia through Turkestan, northeast Xinjiang, Mongolia and Heilongjiang.


Siberian fir, Abies sibirica, grows 30–35 m tall with a trunk diameter of 0.5–1 m at breast height and a conical crown.  The bark is grey-green to grey-brown and smooth with resin blisters typical of most firs.  Shoots are yellow-grey, resinous, and slightly pubescent.  The leaves are needle-like, 2–3 cm long and 1.5 mm broad on average.  They are light green above with two grey-white stomatal bands underneath, and are directed upwards along the stem.  They are soft, flattened, and strongly aromatic.  The cones are cylindrical, 5–9.5 cm long and 2.5–3.5 cm broad, with small bracts hidden by the scales.  They ripen from bluish to brown or dark brown in mid-autumn.  The seeds, 7 mm long with a triangular wing 0.7–1.3 cm long, are released when the cone disintegrates after maturity.


There are two varieties:
Abies sibirica var. sibirica.  Described above.
Abies sibirica var. semenovii (B. Fedtschenko) Farjon.  Endemic in Kyrgyzstan.  Branchlets noticeably ridged and grooved.  Resin canals marginal.  Cones yellow-brown, with broader bracts than those of var. sibirica.


Abies sibirica is subject to infection from the fungus Delphinella balsameae which was reported from Russia for the first time in 2003.


Essential oils extracted from the leaves are used in aromatherapy and perfumes.  The wood is soft, lightweight, and weak.  It is used in construction, furniture, and wood pulp.


Abisara echerius, the plum Judy, is a small but striking butterfly found in Asia belonging to the Punches and Judies family (Riodinidae). It is difficult to distinguish it from Abisara bifasciata.
This active butterfly is usually seen at the tops of trees and amidst foliage. It has a habit of landing and turning around almost immediately after alighting. It repeats this turning movements as it moves along branches. This is believed to help in evading predators by causing confusion about head orientation. This distinctive mode of movement gives the impression of dancing and is an important field characteristic that helps in identifying the species from even a distance.


The perennial flower Abronia latifolia or Abronia arenaria is a species of sand-verbena known commonly as the coastal, or yellow sand-verbena. It is native to the west coast of North America, from southern California to the Canada–United States border.
The plant bears attractive neatly rounded heads of small, bright golden flowers. The individual flowers have no petals; rather, they are composed of yellow bracts forming a trumpet-shaped calyx about the stamens. It bears a small, winged fruit. The plant grows in succulent mats on sand or other coastal substrate. The roots are stout, fusiform and often several feet long. These roots are edible, traditionally eaten by the Chinook Indians. This plant is seen exhibiting psammophory, a method by which plants save themselves from herbivores by attracting sand to their body making them difficult to be eaten. It needs salt water, not fresh water, and will not tolerate extreme drought.


Abronia maritima is a species of sand verbena known by the common name red sand verbena. This is a beach-adapted perennial plant native to the coastlines of southern California, including the Channel Islands, and northern Baja California. It grows along stable sand dunes near, but not in, the ocean surf.
This halophyte requires saline water which it receives mostly in the form of sea spray, and cannot tolerate fresh water or prolonged dry conditions. Its succulent tissues are adapted to isolate and store salt.
This sand verbena forms a green mat along the ground, its stems sometimes buried under loose sand. It flowers year-round in bright red to pink or purplish clusters of flowers. The mats are thick and provide shelter for a variety of small beach-dwelling animals. This is a rare plant. Its habitat is located in heavily traveled beach areas, where it is disturbed by human activity.


Abronia umbellata (pink sand verbena) is a flowering annual plant which is native to western North America.  Other common names include beach sand verbena and purple sand verbena.


This plant is generally found in sandy, well-drained soil in areas with low precipitation, it can become a striking carpet-like groundcover in undisturbed areas after winter rains.  Pink sand verbena tolerates seaside conditions and is found on the west coast of North America from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico.  Sand verbena is typically found on beaches and sand dunes, below the coastal sage scrub, blooming throughout most of the year.


Abronia umbellata is a prostrate annual with thick, succulent leaves (leaves occur few to many and are slender, ovate to diamond-shape with stems as long as leaf blades, stems are often hairy) and pink to purple colored flowers with white centers. Flowers occur in clusters subtended by 5-8 lanceolate bracts.  The flowers do not have petals, but the calyx lobes are cleft giving the appearance of 10-16 petals.  The limbs of the perianth is bright colored sometimes to purplish magenta and the tube can be green or red but always-glandular pubescent.  The tube includes one pistil and three stamens.
A. umbellata frequently hybridizes with other species of Abronia, including A. maritima.  Its flower is fragrant at night and attracts moths.  The foliage can be deciduous based on environmental stress.  This plant is sometimes used in California in native plant gardening.


Originally described in 1793 by the French botanist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Abronia umbellata was collected in 1786 from Monterey, California by the gardener Jean Nicolas Collignon of the French La Pérouse expedition, which had stopped at the capital of Alta California as part of a journey of scientific exploration spanning the Pacific Ocean.  While Collignon and his shipmates perished in a wreck near Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands, some of his collection had previously been shipped back to France during a stop at the Portuguese-held Macao, including the seeds of A. umbellata.  They were planted at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and Lamarck eventually named their descendants A. umbellata, making this species the first Californian flower that does not occur outside of western  North America that was described in the scientific fashion of Linnaeus.


Abronia villosa is a species of sand-verbena known by the common names desert sand-verbena and chaparral sand-verbena. It is in the four o'clock plant family (Nyctaginaceae). It is native to sandy areas in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, associated with creosote-bush and coastal-sage scrub habitats.


Abronia villosa is a short, hairy annual wildflower which grows in creeping prostrate masses along the ground. It has oval-shaped dull green leaves and many peduncles bearing rounded inflorescences of bright magenta or purplish-pink flowers. It grows in the sand of the deserts and coastlines. It has a very sweet fragrance, and is also very sticky. They usually grow between February and May.


The rotenoids abronione and boeravinone C, and the terpenoid lupeol can be found in A. villosa.


Abutilon fruticosum is a widespread species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Texas Indian mallow, pelotazo, and sweet Indian mallow. It is native to Africa, southern and southwestern Asia (from Saudi Arabia to India), northern Mexico, and the south-central United States.
Abutilon fruticosum is a perennial herb growing up to 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall, but usually not exceeding 90 centimeters (3 feet). The alternately arranged leaves are up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) long. The blades are thick and coated in hairs, appearing gray. The yellow-orange flowers are up to about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) wide. Flowering occurs in June through October in Texas.
Abutilon fruticosum grows in chaparral and woodlands and on prairies. It grows on cliffs, slopes, and limestone outcrops.
Abutilon fruticosum is eaten by wild and domesticated ungulates. The seeds provide food for birds such as the bobwhite quail. The flowers attract birds and butterflies. It is host to larvae of a number of butterfly species.
Abutilon fruticosum is drought-tolerant and can be used in xeriscaping.


Abutilon theophrasti (velvetleaf, velvet plant, velvetweed, Chinese jute, China jute, crown weed, buttonweed, lantern mallow, butterprint, pie-marker, or Indian mallow) is an annual plant in the family Malvaceae, native to southern Asia.
Its specific epithet theophrasti commemorates the ancient Greek botanist-philosopher Theophrastus. Abutilon theophrasti is the type species of the genus Abutilon.


Velvetleaf grows 3–8 feet tall on branched stout stems. Their stems are covered in downy hairs. It annually grows in the warmer seasons. It germinates in the spring, and flowers in the summer. This typically takes place between the months of July to September in certain locations. The leaves are large and heart-shaped with point tips at their ends. They grow at different points along the length of the stem or are alternated along the stem, the leaves are attached to thick, long stems, and when crushed, they release an odor.
It has flowers that are yellow; they grow up to an inch in diameter with five petals attached at the base. The flowers grow on stalks, and can either be found in clusters or singled along where the stalk meets the leaf stem.
Pod-like capsules produced by the plant consists of 12-15 wood segments that form cup-like rings. Through the maturation of the seeds, the segments remain joined, and when the seed are ready to be released, the outside of the capsule contains vertical slits which release mature seeds.


In reproduction of velvetleaf, the seeds can produce between 700 and 44,200 per one plant. The seeds take 17–22 days to mature once pollinated. Seeds can remain useful ~50 years when stored in a dry location or in the soil. In order to disperse the seeds for reproduction, each carpel in the plant is opened with a vertical slit along the outer edge. For successful germination of the seeds, the temperature must range between 24-30 °C. Due to the dry climate and high evaporation growth, Velvetleaf is unable to grow in the meadows of North America. In order for Velvetleaf to grow, the soil ranges from gray-brown podzols and sandy to clay loams. Ideal soil pH for velvetleaf is between 6.1 and 7.8, depending on location.


Velvetleaf has been grown in China since around 2000 BCE for its strong, jute-like bast fibre. The leaves are edible stir-fried or in an omelette. The plant is known as maabulha in the Maldives and its leaves were part of the traditional Maldivian cuisine, usually finely chopped and mixed with Maldive fish and grated coconut in a dish known as mas huni. The seeds are eaten in China and Kashmir. To make ropes, coarse cloth, nets, paper and caulk for boats, Velvetleaf is still being cultivated to this day in China. Velvetleaf can be used as a treatment for dysentery and opacity of the cornea and can treat eye injuries. The leaves of the velvet leaf contain 0.01% of rutin, and used for a soothing, lubricant treatment that softens irritated tissues. When the leaves are softened, they can be used a remedy for ulcers. The bark of Velvetleaf can reduce the flow of bodily fluids such as blood, secretions, mucous. It can promote the flow of urine.


In midwestern and northeastern regions of the United States, eastern Canada and the Eastern Mediterranean, A. theophrasti is considered a damaging weed to agricultural crops, especially corn and soybeans.
Since being introduced to North America in the 18th century, velvetleaf has become an invasive species in agricultural regions of the eastern and midwestern United States. It is one of the most detrimental weeds to corn causing decreases of up to 34% of crop yield if not controlled and costing hundreds of millions of dollars per year in control and damage. Velvetleaf is an extremely competitive plant, so much so that it can steal nutrients and water from crops. Velvetleaf is controllable by herbicides even though it is known to be a major weed to different crops due to its harmful effects. Because of the season it germinates in, the plant matures right before the fall harvest in farms. Velvetleaf is a tall plant that can cause the crops around it to not thrive due to severely reducing light penetration to those surrounding crop plants. Not only does it affect crop plants by starving them of light, but it also houses different diseases and pests of crops like corn, cotton, soybeans, and others. When destroyed, the plant releases a chemical odor that is also known to be harmful to surrounding crops by inhibiting germination of crop seeds when that chemical is released into the soil. Examples of pests that Velvetleaf harbors are maize pest, tobacco pest, and soybean diseases. In order to eradicate Velvetleaf, individuals should be dug up or pulled out manually and not tilled or plowed to avoid seed germination. For a more convenient mediation method, invasive individuals can be mowed while the plant is still small.
This species is typically found in areas where the soil had been disturbed. This causes the dormant seeds in the soil to be brought closer to the soil's surface, allowing for growth when the soil is at an optimally warm temperature.


Different predators and pathogens affect velvetleaf at different life stages of the plant. Examples of threats include but are not limited to:


Acacia confusa is a perennial tree native to South-East Asia. Some common names for it are acacia petit feuille, small Philippine acacia, Formosa acacia (Taiwan acacia), Philippine Wattle, and Formosan koa. It grows to a height of 15 m. The tree has become very common in many tropical Pacific areas, including Hawaii, where the species is considered invasive.


The wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm³. In Taiwan, its wood was used to make support beams for underground mines. Acacia confusa is challenging to work and for this reason was traditionally burned as firewood or turned into charcoal in Taiwan. In later years it was exported to China to be made into wood flooring for the American market. At its height Taiwan exported more than 1,000 containers of Taiwan acacia to China. More recently it has been used domestically to produce high value wood products like musical instruments, furniture, and bathtubs.
The wood is also converted to charcoal for family use. The plant is used in traditional medicine and is available from herbal medicine shops (草藥店) in Taiwan, but there has been no clinical study to support its effectiveness.


Oxalyldiaminopropionic acid (α-amino-β-oxalylaminopropionic acid), which can cause neurological damage, paralysis, and death.


Acacia cyclops, commonly known as coastal wattle, cyclops wattle, one-eyed wattle, red-eyed wattle, redwreath acacia, western coastal wattle, rooikrans, rooikrans acacia, is a coastal shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae.  Native to Australia, it is distributed along the west coast of Western Australia as far north as Leeman, and along the south coast into South Australia. The Noongar peoples of Western Australia know the plant as wilyawa or woolya wah.


It is found in locations exposed to coastal winds, red-eyed wattle grows as a dense, dome shaped shrub; this helps protect against salt spray, sand-blast and erosion of soil at the roots.  When sheltered from the wind, it tends to grow as a small tree typically to a height of 0.8 to 4 m (2 ft 7 in to 13 ft 1 in) but can reach as high as 8 m (26 ft). Like many other Acacia species, red-eyed wattle has phyllodes rather than true leaves.  The phyllodes range from four to eight centimetres long, and from six to twelve millimetres wide.  Its flower heads are bright yellow spherical clusters.  Very few flower heads are produced at a time, but flowering occurs over a long period, from early spring to late summer, between September and May. This is unusual for Acacia species, which normally flower in one brief but impressive display.
Both the common and species names refer to the appearance of the pods when first open in late spring: each shiny black seed is encircled by a thick orange-red stalk, resembling a bloodshot eye.
Red-eyed wattle can be used to help stabilise coastal sands.  It was introduced into Africa for this purpose, but it has spread rapidly and is now a serious pest in southern Africa, where it is known as rooikrans (in Afrikaans, "red garland") .  The introduction of the gall-forming cecidomyiid Dasineura dielsi as a biological control has had only limited success in the effective control of this weed.
The green seed pods may be used as a natural soap, by crushing them and using the pods with water to wash with.


The species was first formally described by the botanist George Don in 1832 in the work A General History of Dichlamydeous Plants. It was reclassified as Racosperma eglandulosum in 2003 by Leslie Pedley and transferred back to the genus Acacia in 2006. Many synonyms of the species are known including Acacia cyclopis, Acacia mirbeli and Acacia eglandulosa.
It is thought to be related to Acacia redolens and is quite similar to Acacia veronica. It is about as drought tolerant as Acacia saligna but also able to tolerate sea spray.
The specific epithet is taken from the large black seed which is enclosed in bright red tissue.


It is found along coastal areas in the Mid West, Wheatbelt, Peel, South West, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia from Geraldton in the north, to Augusta in the south and east to the South Australian border. It is found in limestone areas and on and around sand dunes growing in sandy soils. In South Australia it is also found to have a discontinuous distribution from the border eastwards to around Yorketown and Yorke Peninsula and on Kangaroo Island. It is often part of coastal heath or scrubland communities in sandy or loamy soils.
A. cyclops has invaded similar habitat in other areas within Australia, mostly semi-arid  regions of inland south-eastern South Australia where it is considered a problem. It is also found in parts of South Africa along roadsides and waterways as well as parts of California in wetland habitats and among riparian communities.
In South Africa it is considered to be one of the most widespread alien invasive species, though the roots are susceptible to attack by various species of Ganoderma fungi. A. cyclops is problematic in coastal and lowland parts of the Cape Provinces. The species was introduced in the 1830s where it was used as a dune stabiliser and by 1975 it occupied around 300,000 ha (740,000 acres) of coastal lowlands, and sandy river valleys of inland areas forming dense thickets.


Indigenous Australians grind the seeds into a flour to make damper, the seeds are a good source of carbohydrates, fats and protein. The seeds pods are also crushed while still green to make an insect repellent and sunscreen that is also used to treat eczema.  The pods can also be used to make a soap solution. The edible gum exuded from the trunk can be used as chewing gum or to make a glue. The wood is used to make a variety of tools and the rotten wood is a good source of witchetty grubs.


Acacia dealbata, the silver wattle, blue wattle or mimosa, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, 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".


It has been analyzed as containing less than 0.02% alkaloids. It is known to contain enanthic (heptanoic) acid, palmic aldehyde, anisic acid, acetic acid, and phenols.


Along with other bipinnate wattles, Acacia dealbata is classified in the section Botrycephalae within the subgenus Phyllodineae in the genus Acacia. An analysis of genomic and chloroplast DNA along with morphological characters found that the section is polyphyletic, though the close relationships of many species were unable to be resolved. Acacia dealbata appears to be most closely related to A. mearnsii, A. nanodealbata and A. baileyana.
Some authorities consider A. dealbata to be a variant of Acacia decurrens.


There are two subspecies:
A. dealbata subsp. dealbata. Low to moderate altitudes. Tree to 30 m; leaves mostly 5–12 cm long.
A. dealbata subsp. subalpina Tindale & Kodela. High altitudes in the Snowy Mountains. Shrub to 5 m (rarely 10 m) tall; leaves mostly 1.5–8.5 cm long.


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.


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 Ngunnawal people of the ACT used the bark to make coarse rope and string, the resinous sap for glue or to mix with ash to make poultices, the timber for tools, and the seeds to make flour.
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 leaves are sometimes used in Indian chutney.


In South Africa, the species is a Category 1 weed in the Western Cape (requiring eradication) and Category 2 weed (requiring control outside plantation areas) elsewhere.  In New Zealand the Department of Conservation class it as an environmental weed. In Spain, due to its colonizing potential and constituting a serious threat to native species, habitats or ecosystems, this species has been included in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Exotic Species, regulated by Royal Decree 630/2013, of 2 of August, being prohibited in Spain, except the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, its introduction into the natural environment, possession, transport, traffic and commerce.
In Portugal, the species makes part of the official list of invasive species (along with other Acacia species).
In California, the species is invasive and appears to displace many native species, also threatening the habitat of the endangered Mount Hermon June beetle.


Acacia longifolia is a species of Acacia native to southeastern Australia, from the extreme southeast of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, eastern and southern Victoria, and southeastern South Australia. Common names for it include long-leaved wattle, acacia trinervis, aroma doble, golden wattle, coast wattle, sallow wattle and Sydney golden wattle. It is not listed as being a threatened species, and is considered invasive in Portugal and South Africa. In the southern region of Western Australia, it has become naturalised and has been classed as a weed by out-competing indigenous species. It is a tree that grows very quickly reaching 7–10 m in five to six years.


Golden wattle occurs as both a shrub or tree that can reach a height of up to 8 m (26 ft). It has smooth to finely fissured greyish coloured bark and glabrous branchlets that are angled towards the apices. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The evergreen and glabrous phyllodes are mostly straight but occasionally slightly curved with a length of 4 to 20 cm (1.6 to 7.9 in) and a width of 4 to 30 mm (0.16 to 1.18 in) and have numerous prominent longitudinal veins. It blooms between June and October in its native range producing simple inflorescences that occur singly or in pairs in the phyllode axils on stalks with a length of less than 2 mm (0.079 in). The cylindrical flower-spikes have a length of 2 to 4.5 cm (0.79 to 1.77 in) packed with bright to pale yellow coloured flowers. Following flowering thinly leathery to firmly papery seed pods form that are straight to strongly twisted and raised over and constricted between each of the seeds. The pods are usually 4 to 15 cm (1.6 to 5.9 in) in length and 2.5 to 6 mm (0.098 to 0.236 in) and reasonably brittle when dry.


The species was first formally described by Henry Cranke Andrews in 1802 as Mimosa longifolia in The Botanist's Repository for New, and Rare Plants then in 1806 as Acacia longifolia in the Carl Ludwig Willdenow publication Species Plantarum. It was reclassified as Racosperma longifolium in 1987 by Leslie Pedley then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006. Other synonyms include Mimosa macrostachya and Phyllodoce longifolia.
The specific epithet refers to the long phyllodes on this species.
There are two recognised subspecies:
Acacia longifolia subsp. longifolia
Acacia longifolia subsp. sophorae (Labill.) Court


The species is endemic to coastal area of south eastern Queensland close to the border with New South Wales extending southward down the coast of New South Wales. In New South Wales it is common along the tablelands and coastal areas where it is situated in various habitats including foredunes and is usually a part of sclerophyll  woodland or coastal heath and scrub communities. The range then extends south and east through Victoria and into South Australia. In South Australia it is found on the Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, southern Lofty Ranges and throughout the south eastern region where it is mostly restricted to sand dunes.
It has become naturalised in the south west of Western Australia in coastal areas extending from around Perth in the north down to around Albany in the south. It is thought to have introduced by escaping from gardens and being used in restoration plantings. Control methods include hand pulling seedlings and ringbarking or using glyphosate on older plants.


Acacia longifolia is widely cultivated in subtropical regions of the world. Its uses include prevention of soil erosion, food (flowers, seeds and seed pods), yellow dye (from the flowers), green dye (pods) and wood. The flower colour derives from the organic compound kaempferol. The tree's bark has limited use in tanning, primarily for sheepskin. It is useful for securing uninhabited sand in coastal areas, primarily where there are not too many hard frosts. In Tasmania the ripening pods were roasted and the seeds removed and eaten.


The shrub is available commercially and can be propagated by seed scarification or boiling water treatment.
It is regarded as an attractive, hardy, fast-growing species suitable as a hedge plant or for screening. Suitable for hydroseeding work on banks where it will provide soil stabilization. Sydney golden wattle is well suited for low maintenance areas such as road batters, will grow in a range of soil types and is frost hardy. It is heavily used at present in Southern California as a street canopy tree, as it grows fairly quickly (reaching a height of five meters within a year or two of planting), tolerates drought, and is resilient even to the particularly brutal pruning practices associated with low-cost tree services.
In Portugal the species is considered highly invasive in sand dunes and its cultivation is prohibited by law.


In South Africa at least, the Pteromalid wasp Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae has been introduced from Australia, and has spread rapidly, achieving substantial control. The effect on the trees has been described as drastic seed reduction (typically over 90%) by galling of reproductive buds, and indirect debilitation of the affected plant by increased abscission of inflorescences adjacent to the growing galls. The presence of galls also caused leaf abscission, reducing vegetative growth as well as reproductive output.


Acacia mearnsii, commonly known as black wattle, late black wattle or green wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is usually an erect tree with smooth bark, bipinnate leaves and spherical heads of fragrant pale yellow or cream-coloured flowers followed by black to reddish brown pods. In some other parts of the world, it is regarded as an invasive species.


Acacis mearnsii is a spreading shrub or erect tree that typically grows to a height of 10 m (33 ft) and has smooth bark, sometimes corrugated at the base of old specimens. The leaves are bipinnate with 7 to 31 pairs of pinnae, each with 25 to 78 pairs of pinnules. There is a spherical gland up to 8 mm (0.31 in) below the lowest pair of pinnae. The scented flowers are arranged in spherical heads of twenty to forty and are pale yellow or cream-coloured, the heads on hairy peduncles 2–8 mm (0.079–0.315 in) long. Flowering mainly occurs from October to December and black to reddish-brown pods, 30–150 mm (1.2–5.9 in) long and 4.5–8 mm (0.18–0.31 in) wide develop from October to February.


Belgian naturalist Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman described the black wattle in 1925 in his book Plantae Bequaertianae. The species is named after American naturalist Edgar Alexander Mearns, who collected the type from a cultivated specimen in East Africa. Along with other bipinnate wattles, it is classified in the section Botrycephalae within the subgenus Phyllodineae in the genus Acacia. An analysis of genomic and chloroplast DNA along with morphological characters found that the section is polyphyletic, though the close relationships of many species were unable to be resolved. Acacia mearnsii  appears to be most closely related to A. dealbata, A. nanodealbata and A. baileyana.


A. mearnsii is native to south-eastern Australia and Tasmania, but has been introduced to North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Pacific and Indian Ocean islands, Africa, and New Zealand. In these areas it is often used as a commercial source of tannin or a source of firewood for local communities.
In some regions, introduced plants of this species are considered a weed. This is because they threaten native habitats by competing with indigenous vegetation, replacing grass communities, reducing native biodiversity and increasing water loss from riparian zones. In Africa, A. mearnsii competes with local vegetation for nitrogen and water resources, which are particularly scarce in certain regions, endangering the livelihoods of millions of people.
In its native range A. mearnsii is a tree of tall woodland and forests in subtropical and warm temperate regions. In Africa the species grows in disturbed areas, range/grasslands, riparian zones, urban areas, water courses, and mesic habitats at an altitude of between 600-1700m. In Africa it grows in a range of climates including warm temperate dry climates and moist tropical climates. A. mearnsii is reported to tolerate an annual precipitation of between 66 to 228 centimetres (26 to 90 in), an annual mean temperature of 14.7 to 27.8 °C (58.5 to 82.0 °F), and a pH of 5.0 – 7.2.  A. mearnsii does not grow well on very dry and poor soils.


A. mearnsii plays an important role in the ecosystem in its native Australia. As a pioneer plant it quickly binds the erosion-prone soil following the bushfires that are common in its Australian habitats. Like other leguminous plants, it fixes the atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. Other woodland species can rapidly use these increased nitrogen levels provided by the nodules of bacteria present in their expansive root systems. Hence they play a critical part in the natural regeneration of Australian bushland after fires.
Consumption and excretion: The seeds are potentially distributed by rodents or birds.
For ornamental purposes (local)
By animals: The dispersal of the seeds of A . mearnsii is believed to be aided by cattle and birds.
By people: Local people collecting branches and logs for firewood may spread seeds.
Transportation of soil: The seeds may also be spread by the movement of seed-contaminated soil.
By water: The hard-coated seeds are spread readily down water courses.
Mycorrhizal fungi attach to the roots to produce food for marsupial animals, and these animals in turn disperse the spores in their droppings to perpetuates the symbiotic relationship between wattle's roots and the mycorrhizal fungi.
The cracks and crevices in the wattle's bark are home for many insects and invertebrates. The rare Tasmanian hairstreak butterfly lays her eggs in these cracks, which hatch to produce caterpillar larva attended by ants (Iridomyrmex sp.) that feed off the sweet exudates from the larva. A. mearnsii is used similarly as a larval host plant and food source by the imperial hairstreak, Jalmenus evagoras.
The tree is home to various grubs, such as wood moths, which provide a food source to the Australian black cockatoos, who strip the bark for access to these borers.
During winter insects, birds and marsupials are hosted by the black wattle with the aid of their supplies of nectar in their leaf axials. These creatures provide an important predatory role to deal with tree dieback caused by scarab beetles and pasture pests.
Black wattles, along with gums, native box and native hop form the framework vegetation on so-called "hill-topping" sites. They are often isolated remnant pockets of native vegetation amongst a lower sea of exotic pasture. These "hill-topping" sites are critical habitat for male butterflies to attract females for mating, which then lay their eggs under the wattle's bark elsewhere but still within close proximity. It's the only acceptable mating site in the area for these butterflies.
Black wattle flowers provide very nitrogen rich pollen with no nectar. They attract pollen-feeding birds such as wattlebirds, yellow-throated honeyeaters and New Holland honeyeaters. The protein-rich nectar in the leaf axials is very sustaining for nurturing the growth of juvenile nestlings and young invertebrates, e.g. ants.
Ants harvest the seed, attracted by the fleshy, oil rich elaiosome (or seed stalk), which they bury and store in widely dispersed locations. These seeds are buried ready for germinating with the next soaking rains. However, a "wattle seed-eating insect" which enjoys liquid meals using its proboscis-like injector to pierce the testa and suck out the embryo, often reduces the seed's viability.


In some parts of the world, A. mearnsii is considered to be an invasive species. Its invasiveness is due to its production of large numbers of seeds each year and to its large crown that shades other species.


The Ngunnawal people of the Australian Capital Territory use the gum as food and to make cement (when mixed with ash), and to ensure a supply of sap, the bark was cut in the autumn. The bark was also used to make coarse rope and string, and used to be infused in water to make a medicine for indigestion.


A. mearnsii produces copious numbers of small seeds that are not dispersed actively. The species may resprout from basal shoots following a fire. It also generates numerous suckers that result in thickets consisting of clones. Seeds may remain viable for up to 50 years.


Leuco-fisetinidin, a flavan-3,4-diol (leucoanthocyanidin) and a monomer of the condensed tannins called profisetinidins, can be extracted from the heartwood of A. mearnsii.


The tree is able to grow to a height of around 20 m (66 ft) and has a bole that is approximately 150 cm (59 in) in diameter. It has deeply fissured, dark-grey to black coloured bark that appears quite scaly on older trees. It has angular and ribbed branches The bark on older trunks is dark greyish-black in colour, deeply fissured and somewhat scaly. Younger branches are glabrous, ribbed and angular to flattened near the greenish coloured tips. The stems of younger plants are occasionally hairy. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The glabrous, glossy, leathery, dark green to greyish-green phyllodes have a length of 4 to 16 cm (1.6 to 6.3 in) and a width of 6 to 30 mm (0.24 to 1.18 in) with a variable shape. They most often have a narrowly elliptic to lanceolate shape and are straight to slightly curved and often taper near the base and have three to five prominent longitudinal veins.
In its native area it blooms between July and December producing inflorescences that appear in groups to two to eight on an axillary raceme, the spherical flower-heads have a diameter of 5 to 10 mm (0.20 to 0.39 in) and contain 30 to 50 densely packed pale yellow to nearly white coloured flowers. Following flowering smooth, firmly papery and glabrous seed pods form. The curved or twisted or coiled pod have a biconvex shape with a length of 4 to 12 cm (1.6 to 4.7 in) and a width of 5 to 8 mm (0.20 to 0.31 in) and contain longitudinally arranged seeds.


The species was first formally described by the botanist Robert Brown in 1813 as a part of the William Aiton work Hortus Kewensis. It was reclassified as Racosperma melanoxylon by Leslie Pedley in 1986 then returned to genus Acacia in 2006. Several other synonyms are known including Acacia arcuata, Mimosa melanoxylon and Acacia melanoxylon var. obtusifolia.


In its native range the tree is found down the east coast of Australia from Queensland in the north, down the east coast into New South Wales, through Victoria and west along the south coast of South Australia. It is also found down the east coast of Tasmania. It has become naturalised in Western Australia.  In New South Wales it is widespread from coastal area and into the Great Dividing Range but is not found further inland. It is commonly found at higher altitudes to the Nandewar Range, Liverpool Range and around Orange in the west and is mostly found as a part of wet sclerophyll forest communities or near cooler rainforest communities. The range of the pant extends from the Atherton Tableland in northern Queensland in the north and follows the coast to around the Mount Lofty Range in the South Australia in the south west and can grow in a wide range of podsols especially in sandy loams.


Acacia melanoxylon is valued for its decorative timber which may be used in cabinets, musical instruments and in boatbuilding.


Sapwood may range in colour from straw to grey-white with clear demarcation from the heartwood. The heartwood is golden to dark brown with chocolate growth rings. The timber is generally straight grained but may be wavy or interlocked. Quartersawn surfaces may produce an attractive fiddleback figure. The wood is lustrous and possesses a fine to medium texture.
The name of the wood may refer to dark stains on the hands of woodworkers, caused by the high levels of tannin in the timber.


Acacia melanoxylon timber has a density of approximately 660 kg/m³ and is strong in compression, resistant to impact and is moderately stiff. It is moderately blunting to work with tools and bends well. It may be nailed or screwed with ease, but gluing may produce variable results. The wood is easily stained and produces a high-quality finish.
Australian blackwood seasons easily with some possible cupping when boards are inadequately restrained. The timber produces little movement once seasoned.
The timber may be attacked by furniture beetles, termites and powder-post beetles (sapwood). It is resistant to effective preservative treatments.


It has been introduced to many countries for forestry plantings and as an ornamental tree. It now is present in Africa, Asia, Europe, Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, South America and the United States. It is a declared noxious weed species in South Africa and is a pest in Portugal's Azores Islands.  It was also recently listed by the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) as an invasive weed that may cause limited impact (Knapp 2003). Its use as a street tree is being phased out in some locales because of the damage it often causes to pavements and underground plumbing.  In some regions of Tasmania, blackwood is now considered a pest.


Indigenous Australians derive an analgesic from the tree. It was also used to make spear-throwers and shields.
The wood has many uses including wood panels, furniture, fine cabinetry, tools, boats, inlaid boxes and wooden kegs.  It is approximately the same quality as walnut, and is well-suited for shaping with steam.  The bark has a tannin content of about 20%. It may also be used for producing decorative veneers.
The tree's twigs and bark are used to poison fish as a way of fishing. This tree can also be used as a fire barrier plant, amongst other plants, in rural situations.
Plain and figured Australian blackwood is used in musical instrument making (in particular guitars, drums, Hawaiian ukuleles, violin bows and organ pipes), and in recent years has become increasingly valued as a substitute for koa wood.


Acacia myrtifolia, known colloquially as myrtle wattle, red stem wattle or red-stemmed wattle, is a species of Acacia native to coastal areas of southern and eastern Australia.


It is a small, bushy and glabrous shrub that typically grows to 0.3–3 m (0.98–9.84 ft) in height and 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) across. It has smooth grey coloured bark. The distinctive red branches are angled upward and have prominent ridges. The green slightly curved phyllodes have an elliptic to narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate shape. Each phyllode is 2–9 cm (1-3½ in) in length and 0.5–3 cm wide. Its flowers are creamy white or pale yellow and appear in winter and spring. The inflorescence is glabrous with globose heads with a diameter of 6 to 13 mm (0.24 to 0.51 in). These are followed by 4–7 cm (1.5–3 in) long curved seed pods.
The pale pods have prominent margins and are thinly woody to firm and brittle when dry. Shiny brown seeds are arranged longitudinally in the pod. Each seed is narrowly oblong with a length of 3.5 to 4.5 mm (0.14 to 0.18 in).


The species was first formally described by the botanist Carl Ludwig von Willdenow in 1806 in the work Species Plantarum. Several synonyms for the species are known including; Racosperma myrtifolium, Acacia amoena, Acacia trigona, Mimosa marginata and Acacia acutifolia.
It was one of the earliest plants described in the colony, having been illustrated by James Sowerby. Its specific epithet 'myrtle-leaved' is derived from the Latin myrtus 'myrtle', and folium 'leaf'.
A. myrtifolia is part of the 'A. myrtifolia group' of Acacias along with eight other closely related species all found in Western Australia; Acacia celastrifolia, Acacia clydonophora, Acacia disticha, Acacia durabilis, Acacia heterochroa, Acacia nervosa, Acacia obovata and Acacia pygmaea.


The shrub is found across the south coast of Western Australia and extends inland. It is found in the South West, Wheatbelt, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions. Form Albany in the south to Kondinin in the north and from Augusta in the west to Cape Arid in the east. It grows well in a range of habitats in gravelly or sandy soils.
It is also found in coastal areas of South Australia east of the Eyre Peninsula extending coastal areas of Victoria and New South Wales and north into Queensland as far as Gladstone. It is also found in coastal areas of Tasmania.
Habitats where A. myrtifolia is found is mostly open forest, mixed woodlands, scrub or heath, usually in coastal or near-coastal locations. The distribution pattern of the shrub closely follows the combined distributions of Acacia subcaerulea and Acacia suaveolens.


A. myrtifolia is one of the earliest native Australian plants to be cultivated in Europe. The species has also been cultivated in Australia but it is not widely used in gardens as many other Acacia species have more colourful flowers. It prefers well drained soils, full sun and will tolerate moderate frosts. If it is lightly pruned after flowering it will produce a busy growth habit.
If grown from seed, pre-treatment by soaking in boiling water or by scarification is required. Propagation from cuttings can also work.
The fast growing shrub is suitable for low maintenance gardens, roadside verges and large median strips as a wind-break, natural barrier or erosion control.


Acacia paradoxa  is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Its common names include kangaroo acacia, kangaroo thorn, prickly wattle, hedge wattle and paradox acacia.


The large shrub or tree up to 2 to 4 metres (7 to 13 ft) tall and has a similar width, it has ribbed branchlets that are often arched downward. It is dense with foliage; the leaves are actually enlarged petioles known as phyllodes. They are crinkly and the new ones are covered in hairs. The erect phyllodes are asymettric and have a lanceolate shape and are around 30 millimetres (1.18 in) in length and 7 mm (0.276 in) wide. The bush is also full of long spines. It usually flowers between August and November producing an axillary flower-spike with small, bright yellow spherical flower heads and the fruits are brown pods 4 to 7 centimetres (1.6 to 2.8 in) long. The hard black seeds within have an oblong shape and are about 6 mm (0.236 in) in length and half as wide.
The spiny stipules that grow at the base of the phyllodes deter livestock from feeding on or too close to the plant.


The species was first formally described by the botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1813 as part of the work Catalogus Plantarum Horti Botanici Monspeliensis.
The species name is from the Greek words para which means near and doxa meaning glory. This probably refers the unattractive and thorny shrub being quite showy when it is in bloom.
Many synonyms are known for the plant including; Acacia ornithophora, Acacia undulata, Mimosa paradoxa, Racosperma paradoxum, Acacia armata and Acacia hybrida.


Kangaroo thorn is widely spread across Australia, regenerating from seed after disturbances, such as bush fire. Small birds, including wrens, use this plant as shelter and dwelling, while it is relied upon as a food source for moths, butterflies and other insects, birds also feed on its seeds.
It is endemic to south eastern parts of South Australia, much of Victoria, eastern New South Wales and south eastern parts of Queensland. It has become naturalised in parts of Western Australia and Tasmania.
The plant has also been introduced to other continents. In the United States, kangaroo thorn is a well-known noxious weed in California.


The plant is used as an ornamental or as a dense screening plant. It make an excellent habitat and food source for birds. It grows well in full sun or in a partly shaded position. It can be planted in dry to moist well-drained areas. Seeds require pre-treatment such as scarification prior to planting.


Acacia pycnantha, most commonly known as the golden wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae native to southeastern Australia. It grows to a height of 8 m (26 ft) and has phyllodes (flattened leaf stalks) instead of true leaves. Sickle-shaped, these are between 9 and 15 cm (3+1⁄2 and 6 in) long, and 1–3.5 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 in) wide. The profuse fragrant, golden flowers appear in late winter and spring, followed by long seed pods. Plants are cross-pollinated by several species of honeyeater and thornbill, which visit nectaries on the phyllodes and brush against flowers, transferring pollen between them. An understorey plant in eucalyptus forest, it is found from southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, through Victoria and into southeastern South Australia.
Explorer Thomas Mitchell collected the type specimen, from which George Bentham wrote the species description in 1842. No subspecies are recognised. The bark of A. pycnantha produces more tannin than any other wattle species, resulting in its commercial cultivation for production of this compound. It has been widely grown as an ornamental garden plant and for cut flower production, but has become a weed in South Africa, Tanzania, Italy, Portugal, Sardinia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, as well as Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales.  Acacia pycnantha was made the official floral emblem of Australia in 1988, and has been featured on the country's postal stamps.
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Acacia pycnantha generally grows as a small tree to between 3 and 8 m (10 and 30 ft) in height, though trees of up to 12 m (40 ft) high have been reported in Morocco. The bark is generally dark brown to grey—smooth in younger plants though it can be furrowed and rough in older plants. Branchlets may be bare and smooth or covered with a white bloom.  The mature trees do not have true leaves but have phyllodes—flat and widened leaf stems—that hang down from the branches. Shiny and dark green, these are between 9 and 15 cm (3+1⁄2 and 6 in) long, 1–3.5 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 in) wide and falcate (sickle-shaped) to oblanceolate in shape. New growth has a bronze colouration. Field observations at Hale Conservation Park show the bulk of new growth to take place over spring and summer from October to January.
Floral buds are produced year-round on the tips of new growth, but only those initiated between November and May go on to flower several months later. Flowering usually takes place from July to November (late winter to early summer) in the golden wattle's native range; because the later buds develop faster, flowering peaks over July and August. The bright yellow inflorescences occur in groups of 40 to 80 on 2.5–9 cm (1–3+1⁄2 in)-long racemes that arise from axillary buds. Each inflorescence is a ball-like structure that is covered by 40 to 100 small flowers that have five tiny petals (pentamerous) and long erect stamens, which give the flower head a fluffy appearance.
Developing after flowering has finished, the seed pods are flattish, straight or slightly curved, 5–14 cm (2–5+1⁄2 in) long and 5–8 mm wide. They are initially bright green, maturing to dark brown and have slight constrictions between the seeds, which are arranged in a line in the pod. The oblong seeds themselves are 5.5 to 6 mm long, black and shiny, with a clavate (club-shaped) aril. They are released in December and January, when the pods are fully ripe.
Species similar in appearance include mountain hickory wattle (A. obliquinervia), coast golden wattle (A. leiophylla) and golden wreath wattle (A. saligna). Acacia obliquinervia has grey-green phyllodes, fewer flowers in its flower heads, and broader (1.25–2.5 cm (1⁄2–1 in)-wide) seed pods. A. leiophylla has paler phyllodes. A. saligna has longer, narrower phyllodes.


Acacia pycnantha was first formally described by botanist George Bentham in the London Journal of Botany in 1842. The type specimen was collected by the explorer Thomas Mitchell in present-day northern Victoria between Pyramid Hill and the Loddon River. Bentham thought it was related to A. leiophylla, which he described in the same paper. The specific epithet pycnantha is derived from the Greek words pyknos (dense) and anthos (flower), a reference to the dense cluster of flowers that make up the globular inflorescences. Queensland botanist Les Pedley reclassified the species as Racosperma pycnanthum in 2003, when he proposed placing almost all Australian members of the genus into the new genus Racosperma. However, this name is treated as a synonym of its original name.
Johann Georg Christian Lehmann described Acacia petiolaris in 1851 from a plant grown at Hamburg Botanic Gardens from seed said to be from the Swan River Colony (Perth).  Carl Meissner described A. falcinella from material from Port Lincoln in 1855. Bentham classified both as A. pycnantha in his 1864 Flora Australiensis, though he did categorise a possible subspecies angustifolia based on material from Spencer Gulf with narrower phyllodes and fewer inflorescences. However, no subspecies are currently recognised, though an informal classification distinguishes wetland and dryland forms, the latter with narrower phyllodes.
In 1921 Joseph Maiden described Acacia westonii from the northern and western slopes of Mount Jerrabomberra near Queanbeyan in New South Wales. He felt it was similar to, but distinct from, A. pycnantha and was uncertain whether it warranted species rank. His colleague Richard Hind Cambage grew seedlings and reported they had much longer internodes than those of A. pycnantha, and that the phyllodes appeared to have three nectaries rather than the single one of the latter species. It is now regarded as a synonym of A. pycnantha.
Common names recorded include golden wattle, green wattle, black wattle, and broad-leaved wattle. At Ebenezer Mission in the Wergaia country of north-western Victoria the Aboriginal people referred to it as witch.
Hybrids of the species are known in nature and cultivation. In the Whipstick forest near Bendigo in Victoria, putative hybrids with Whirrakee wattle (Acacia williamsonii) have been identified; these resemble hakea wattle (Acacia hakeoides). Garden hybrids with Queensland silver wattle (Acacia podalyriifolia) raised in Europe have been given the names Acacia x siebertiana and Acacia x deneufvillei.


Golden wattle occurs in south-eastern Australia from South Australia's southern Eyre Peninsula and Flinders Ranges across Victoria and northwards into inland areas of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It is found in the understorey of open eucalypt forests on dry, shallow soils.
The species has become naturalised beyond its original range in Australia. In New South Wales it is especially prevalent around Sydney and the Central Coast region. In Tasmania it has spread in the east of the state and become weedy in bushland near Hobart. In Western Australia, it is found in the Darling Range and western wheatbelt as well as Esperance and Kalgoorlie.
Outside Australia it has become naturalised in South Africa, Tanzania, Italy, Portugal, Sardinia, India, Indonesia and New Zealand. It is present in California as a garden escapee, but is not considered to be naturalised there. In South Africa, where it had been introduced between 1858 and 1865 for dune stabilization and tannin production, it had spread along waterways into forest, mountain and lowland fynbos, and borderline areas between fynbos and karoo. The gall-forming wasp Trichilogaster signiventris has been introduced in South Africa for biological control and has reduced the capacity of trees to reproduce throughout their range. The eggs are laid by adult wasps into buds of flower heads in the summer, before hatching in May and June when the larvae induce the formation of the grape-like galls and prevent flower development. The galls can be so heavy that branches break under their weight. In addition, the introduction in 2001 of the acacia seed weevil Melanterius compactus has also proved effective.


Though plants are usually killed by a severe fire, mature specimens are able to resprout. Seeds are able to persist in the soil for more than five years, germinating after fire.
Like other wattles, Acacia pycnantha fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere. It hosts bacteria known as rhizobia that form root nodules, where they make nitrogen available in organic form and thus help the plant grow in poor soils. A field study across Australia and South Africa found that the microbes are genetically diverse, belonging to various strains of the species Bradyrhizobium japonicum and genus Burkholderia in both countries. It is unclear whether the golden wattle was accompanied by the bacteria to the African continent or encountered new populations there.
Self-incompatible, Acacia pycnantha cannot fertilise itself and requires cross-pollination between plants to set seed. Birds facilitate this and field experiments keeping birds away from flowers greatly reduces seed production. Nectaries are located on phyllodes; those near open flowers become active, producing nectar that birds feed upon just before or during flowering. While feeding, birds brush against the flower heads and dislodge pollen and often visit multiple trees. Several species of honeyeater, including the white-naped, yellow-faced, New Holland, and occasionally white-plumed and crescent honeyeaters, and Eastern spinebills have been observed foraging. Other bird species include the silvereye, striated, buff-rumped and brown thornbills. As well as eating nectar, birds often pick off insects on the foliage. Honeybees, native bees, ants and flies also visit nectaries, but generally do not come into contact with the flowers during this activity. The presence of Acacia pycnantha is positively correlated with numbers of swift parrots overwintering in box–ironbark forest in central Victoria, though it is not clear whether the parrots are feeding on them or some other factor is at play.
The wood serves as food for larvae of the jewel beetle species Agrilus assimilis, A. australasiae and A. hypoleucus. The larvae of a number of butterfly species feed on the foliage including the fiery jewel, icilius blue, lithocroa blue and wattle blue. Trichilogaster wasps form galls in the flowerheads, disrupting seed set and
Acizzia acaciaepycnanthae, a psyllid, sucks sap from the leaves.Acacia pycnantha is a host to rust fungus species in the genus Uromycladium that affect the phyllodes and branches. These include Uromycladium simplex  that forms pustules and U. tepperianum that causes large swollen brown to black galls that eventually lead to the death of the host plant. Two fungal species have been isolated from leaf spots on Acacia pycnantha: Seimatosporium arbuti, which is found on a wide range of plant hosts, and Monochaetia lutea.


Golden wattle has been grown in temperate regions around the world for the tannin in its bark, as it provides the highest yield of all wattles. Trees can be harvested for tannin from seven to ten years of age. Commercial use of its timber is limited by the small size of trees, but it has high value as a fuel wood. The scented flowers have been used for perfume making, and honey production in humid areas. However, the pollen is too dry to be collected by bees in dry climates. In southern Europe, it is one of several species grown for the cut-flower trade and sold as "mimosa". Like many other species of wattle, Acacia pycnantha exudes gum when stressed. Eaten by indigenous Australians, the gum has been investigated as a possible alternative to gum arabic, commonly used in the food industry.


Golden wattle is cultivated in Australia and was introduced to the northern hemisphere in the mid-1800s. Although it has a relatively short lifespan of 15 to 30 years, it is widely grown for its bright yellow, fragrant flowers. As well as being an ornamental plant, it has been used as a windbreak or in controlling erosion. Trees are sometimes planted with the taller sugar gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) to make a two-layered windbreak. One form widely cultivated was originally collected on Mount Arapiles in western Victoria. It is floriferous, with fragrant flowers appearing from April to July. The species has a degree of frost tolerance and is adaptable to a wide range of soil conditions, but it prefers good drainage. It tolerates heavy soils in dry climates, as well as mild soil salinity. It can suffer yellowing (chlorosis) in limestone-based (alkaline) soils. Highly drought-tolerant, it needs 370–550 mm (10–20 in) winter rainfall for cultivation. It is vulnerable to gall attack in cultivation. Propagation is from seed which has been pre-soaked in hot water to soften the hard seed coating.


Although wattles, and in particular the golden wattle, have been the informal floral emblem of Australia for many years (for instance, it represented Australia on the Coronation gown of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953), it was not until Australia's bicentenary in 1988 that the golden wattle was formally adopted as the floral emblem of Australia. This was proclaimed by Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen in the Government gazette published on 1 September. The day was marked by a ceremony at the Australian National Botanic Gardens which included the planting of a golden wattle by Hazel Hawke, the Prime Minister's wife. In 1992, 1 September was formally declared "National Wattle Day".
The Australian Coat of Arms includes a wreath of wattle; this does not, however, accurately represent a golden wattle. Similarly, the green and gold colours used by Australian international sporting teams were inspired by the colours of wattles in general, rather than the golden wattle specifically.
The species was depicted on a stamp captioned "wattle" as part of a 1959–60 Australian stamp set featuring Australian native flowers. In 1970, a 5c stamp labelled "Golden Wattle" was issued to complement an earlier set depicting the floral emblems of Australia. To mark Australia Day in 1990, a 41c stamp labelled "Acacia pycnantha" was issued. Another stamp labelled "Golden Wattle", with a value of 70c, was issued in 2014.
Clare Waight Keller included golden wattles to represent Australia in Meghan Markle's wedding veil, which included the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country.
The 1970 Monty Python's Flying Circus Bruces sketch includes a reference, by one of the stereotyped Australian characters, to "the wattle" as being "the emblem of our land", with suggested methods of display including "stick[ing] it in a bottle or hold[ing] it in your hand" - despite the wattle prop itself being a large, forked branch with sparse patches of leaves and generic yellow flowers.


Acacia saligna, commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family Fabaceae. Native to Australia, it is widely distributed throughout the south west corner of Western Australia, extending north as far as the Murchison River, and east to Israelite Bay.
The Noongar peoples know the tree as Cujong.


Acacia saligna grows as a small, dense, spreading tree with a short trunk and a weeping habit. It grows up to eight metres tall. Like many Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves; these can be up to 25 centimetres long. At the base of each phyllode is a nectary gland, which secretes a sugary fluid. This attracts ants, which are believed to reduce the numbers of leaf-eating insects. The yellow flowers appear in late winter and early spring, in groups of up to ten bright yellow spherical flower heads. The fruit is a legume, while the seed is oblong and dark to black in colour.
A natural colonizer, Coojong tends to grow wherever soil has been disturbed, such as alongside new roads. Its seeds are distributed by ants, which store them in their nests to eat the seed-stalks. Disturbance of the soil brings them to the surface and allows them to germinate. Seeds germinate readily, and hundreds of seedlings can sometimes be found beneath a single parent tree. It is also extremely vigorous when young, often growing over a metre per year.


Acacia saligna can be used for multiple purposes, as it grows under a wide range of soil conditions into a woody shrub or tree. It has been used for tanning, revegetation, animal fodder, mine site rehabilitation, firewood, mulch, agroforestry and as a decorative plant.
Acacia saligna has been planted extensively in semi-arid areas of Africa, South America and the Middle East as windbreaks and for stabilisation of sand dunes or erosion.


Acacia saligna has become an invasive species outside its natural range due to the following contributing factors:
Widespread planting outside its native area
Rapid growth in soil with low levels of nutrients
Early reproductive maturity
Large quantity of seeds produced
Ability of seeds to survive fire
Ability to germinate after cutting or burning
Tolerance to many different substrates
Nitrogen fixation
Extensive root system
Taller growth (by more than 3 m in some places) than indigenous plants
It was planted in the northern suburbs of Sydney in the 1950s by well-meaning native plant enthusiasts, and has subsequently become a major weed in eastern New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Since 2019, the species is included on the list of invasive alien species of Union Concern. This means that the species can no longer be imported in the European Union. Additionally, it has become illegal to plant it, breed it, transport it, or bring it into the wild.


In South Africa, it proliferated at an uncontrollable rate, having been introduced in the nineteenth century to produce tan bark and to stabilise the sands of the Cape Flats outside Cape Town after the indigenous bush had largely been cut down for firewood. In addition to replacing indigenous fynbos vegetation, it also hampers agriculture. It is listed as an invasive alien plant in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, where it has displaced native species through changing fire regimes. The introduction of the acacia gall rust fungus, (Uromycladium tepperianum), has proven to be highly effective at reining it in, reducing density by 80%. The acacia seed weevil (Melanterius species) was introduced in 2001 and has now (in 2007) reached the stage where there are sufficient numbers available to begin its distribution.


Acaena novae-zelandiae, commonly known as red bidibid, bidgee widgee, buzzy and piri-piri bur, is a small herbaceous, prostrate perennial, native to New Zealand, Australia and New Guinea, of the family Rosaceae.


Acaena novae-zelandiae is a small herbaceous perennial. It is stoloniferous with prostrate stems of 1.5 – 2 mm diameter. Damage to stolons encourages new shoots to be produced.
It has imparipinnate leaves, with 9–15 toothed, oblong leaflets, which are approximately 2 –11 cm long. The adaxial surface of the leaves is dark green and shiny, and the abaxial surface is hairy and glaucous green in colouration. The rachis of the leaves is often red.
The scape is 10 – 15 cm long and bears a globular, terminal inflorescence, of 20 – 25 mm diameter, with 70 – 100 flowers. The flowers lack petals and can range in colour from green to white or purple. The flowers are wind pollinated.
Each flower produces one achene, bearing four approximately 10 mm long spines, tipped with barbs, which aid dispersal by attaching to wool, feathers and various clothing materials. When the fruit are ripe, these spines are red in colouration, later becoming brown.


Acaena novae-zelandiae was first formally described in 1871 by Thomas Kirk who published the description in Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. The genus name (Acaena) is derived from the Ancient Greek word akaina meaning "thorn" or "spine", referring to the spiny calyx of many species of Acaena. The specific epithet (novae-zelandiae) refers to New Zealand.


Acaena novae-zelandiae may be used for ground cover in gardens or as a lawn substitute. This plant can be prevented from spreading by limiting disturbance to stolons, thus reducing vegetative propagation, and by mowing flowers before the burrs form.
It has also been suggested that dried “tiny tips”  of young succulent leaves may be brewed as tea.


Acalymma vittatum, the striped cucumber beetle, is a beetle of the family Chrysomelidae and a serious pest of cucurbit crops in both larval and adult stages. It is distributed from eastern North America to the Rocky Mountains. It is replaced in the west by Acalymma trivittatum, a duller species often with greyish or pale white elytra rather than yellow.


The striped cucumber beetle is a small beetle approximately half a centimeter (1/5 inch) in length, and characterized by brown-yellow elytra completely covering the abdomen and longitudinally transversed by three thick black stripes.  It superficially resembles the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera), another serious crop pest.  However, the ventral abdominal surface of A. vittatum is black where that of D. virgifera are yellow, and the elytra of D. virgifera often do not extend the full length of the abdomen.


Large numbers of adults emerge from diapause in the spring to feed on the foliage, flowers, and pollen of cucurbit species.  Between one and two generations of beetles can pass in a season depending on the region, with the final generation settling into another period of diapause to wait out the winter.
Females will lay eggs on or in the immediate vicinity of the stem of a viable host plant, often a member of the genus Cucurbita.  Eggs are a bright orange color and less than a millimeter in diameter.  Eggs hatch after a short period and larvae feed on the roots of the plant.


Striped cucumber beetles can cause significant amounts of foliar damage to cucurbit crops, particularly to older plants, and larval root feeding also damages the plant.  The most damage is often seen in the early part of the year during the emergence of overwintering beetles, but feeding damage continues throughout the entire growing season.  Furthermore, adult beetles are one of two known vectors of the bacterial wilt Erwinia tracheiphila, an incurable and often fatal disease of cucurbits.  Bacteria passes from the frass of the beetle into feeding wounds that reach into the vascular tissues of the plants, where they proliferate to the point of blocking the xylem.


Grower tolerance for this beetle is very low, due in major part to the transmission of bacterial wilt.  Unfortunately, effective control techniques beyond pesticides are few and far between.  Research into nematode and other biological control agents continues today. Another possibility is the planting of trap crops (crops that the beetles prefer) around the perimeter of the main crop. The trap crop can then be treated with insecticide, reducing overall pesticide use.
Some research indicates that striped cucumber beetle damage can be reduced by the use of vermicompost fertilizer compared to inorganic fertilizer. Researchers suggest that the mechanism by which vermicompost reduces beetle damage is due to an increase in phenolic compounds in plants grown with vermicompost.
The application of Paecilomyces fumosoroseus to a trap crop is an effective means of controlling the beetle.


Acalymma vittatum, along with other cucurbit-feeding beetles in the genus Diabrotica, are induced to feeding behavior by a class of plant secondary compounds called cucurbitacins, widespread in members of the family Cucurbitaceae.  These extremely bitter chemicals are hypothesized to have evolved as a plant feeding defense, but have been co-opted by the beetles into a kairomonal feeding attractant.  Beetles are capable of consuming amounts of cucurbitacins that would kill other organisms, and some work has indicated that the beetle may sequester the compounds in their elytra to deter predation.


Common three-seeded mercury is an annual herbaceous plant. It grows from a taproot, reaching 15–60 cm (1⁄2–2 ft) tall, and is usually without branches. The central stem can be either covered with fine white hairs or hairless.  The lanceolate to lanceolate-rhombic acute leaves are alternate with slightly hairy petioles about 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long, bluntly serrated margins, and pinnate venation. Leaves are deep green and somewhat shiny above, light green and mostly hairless below and can be up to 7 cm (2+3⁄4 in) long and 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) wide.  There is a tendency for the leaves to cluster near the top of the stem or stems. A conspicuous, slightly ciliate bract with 5–9 lobes is located where the leaf petiole meets the stem.  This bract wraps around the inflorescence, which consists of a green cyathium. The cyathium contains minute staminate and pistillate flowers lacking petals.  Male flowers terminate the peduncle with capitate clusters. The flowers consists of four tiny golden green upwardly bent sepals, acute to blunt in shape, and many stamens.  Female flowers consist of minute green sepals, a hairy tri-locular ovary, and three fringed styles. One seed per locule is produced.  The mature pods are tan colored, 1.6–1.8 mm (1⁄16–5⁄64 in) long, and deeply lobed.  There is no floral scent associated with the flowers.
This plant is somewhat unusual in that it has clear sap as opposed to the typically milky sap of other members of Euphorbiaceae.
Acalypha rhomboidea is quite similar to Acalypha virginica.  The two may be distinguished by the number of lobes on the bracts; the latter has 9–15 lobes whereas the former has only 5–9.  Acalypha rhomboidea also resembles young redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.), but may be distinguished from the latter by the flower clusters, bracts, and occasionally bronze-green leaves of the former.


Acalypha rhomboidea is native to Eastern Canada and the Northeastern, Southeastern, and Central United States.
This plant often grows in fertile loam, but it will tolerate gravelly or clay soil as well. It prefers disturbed areas.  Three-seeded mercury can be found growing in moist to mesic black soil prairie, openings or lightly shaded areas of upland and floodplain forest, thickets, seeps, riverbanks and lake shores, limestone glades and bluffs, fields, fence rows, roadside and railroad right-of-ways, vacant lots, and waste areas.


The blooming period for this plant is roughly mid-summer until fall frost, and the flowering period lasts for one or more months.
The seeds are an attractive food source for birds such as the mourning dove and greater prairie chicken. Deer are known to browse Acalypha spp.
In crop fields where group 2 herbicides have been repeatedly used, this plant can become a serious and damaging weed.


The common redpoll or mealy redpoll (Acanthis flammea) is a species of bird in the finch family. It breeds somewhat further south than the Arctic redpoll, also in habitats with thickets or shrubs.


The common redpoll was listed in 1758 by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla flammea. The current genus name Acanthis is from the Ancient Greek akanthis, a name for a small now-unidentifiable bird, and flammea is the Latin for "flame-coloured".
The common redpoll was previously placed in the genus Carduelis. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that the Arctic and common redpolls formed a distinct lineage, so the two species were grouped together in the resurrected genus Acanthis.


The common redpoll is a small brownish-grey finch with dark streaks and a bright red patch on its forehead. It has a black bib and two pale stripes on the wings. Males often have their breasts suffused with red. It is smaller, browner and more streaked than the generally similar Arctic redpoll, adults measuring between 11.5 and 14 centimetres (4.5 and 5.5 in) in length and weighing between 12 and 16 grams (0.42 and 0.56 oz). Wingspan ranges from 7.5 to 8.7 in (19-22 cm). The rump is streaked and there is a broad dark brown streak across the vent. It has brown legs, dark-tipped yellowish bills and dark brown irises.


The range of the common redpoll extends through northern Europe and Asia to northern North America, Greenland and Iceland. It is a partial migrant, moving southward in late autumn and northward again in March and April. Its typical habitat is boreal forests of pines, spruces and larches. It feeds mainly on seeds, principally birch and alder seeds in the winter.
The common redpoll builds its nest low down in a tree or bush. The nest has an outer layer of thin twigs, a middle layer of root fibres, fragments of juniper bark and lichens and an inner layer of down, willow buds and reindeer hair. Three to seven speckled eggs are laid and incubated by the female. They hatch after about 11 days and the young fledge in about a further 13 days.


The Arctic redpoll or hoary redpoll (Acanthis hornemanni) is a bird species in the finch family Fringillidae. It breeds in tundra birch forest. It has two subspecies, A. h. hornemanni (Greenland or Hornemann's Arctic redpoll) of Greenland and neighbouring parts of Canada, and A. h. exilipes (Coues' Arctic redpoll), which breeds in the tundra of northern North America and the Palearctic. Many birds remain in the far north; some birds migrate short distances south in winter, sometimes travelling with common redpolls.
The genus name Acanthis is from the Ancient Greek akanthis, a name for a small now-unidentifiable bird, and hornemanni commemorates the Danish botanist Jens Wilken Hornemann. The name "arctic redpoll" is used in Europe and "hoary redpoll" in North America.


The yellow-rumped thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa) is a species of passerine bird from the genus Acanthiza. The genus was once placed in the family Pardalotidae but that family was split and it is now in the family Acanthizidae. There are four subspecies of yellow-rumped thornbill. It is a small, brownish bird with a distinctive yellow rump and thin dark bill. It inhabits savannah, scrub and forests across most of Australia and eats insects. The species engages in cooperative breeding.


The yellow-rumped thornbill was described as Saxicola chrysorrhoa by the French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830, from a specimen collected in King George Sound. The specific epithet derives from Ancient Greek khrysos 'gold' and orrhos 'rump'. Four subspecies are recognised: the nominate chrysorrhoa of Western Australia, leachi of Tasmania, leighi of eastern Australia, and normantoni of central and northern Australia. Butterbum is a colloquial name used by Australian birdwatchers.
A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found the yellow-rumped thornbill was an early offshoot within the thornbill genus, its ancestor diverging from that of all other thornbills just over 10 million years ago.


The yellow-rumped thornbill is the largest species of thornbill, 9.5–12 cm (3.7–4.7 in) long and weighing 9 g (0.32 oz). It has a short tail and a long slender bill. The species has a distinctive yellow rump, a black forehead with white spots, grey head and neck, a white line above the eye and white throat. The belly is white with light buff below the wings. The wings are grey and the tail is black. The plumage varies somewhat, depending on subspecies.


The yellow-rumped thornbill has a distinctive song described as "twittering, musical, sweet, high-pitched". The species is also reported to be an accomplished mimic of other birds, in particular mimicking the alarm calls of the noisy miner.


The species has a wide distribution across western, southern and eastern Australia as well as Tasmania; it is absent from the north coast of Western Australia, parts of central Australia, northern Queensland and central and northern Northern Territory. The species inhabits a wide range of habitats, including open forest and woodland, grasslands, savannah and scrubland.


The yellow-rumped thornbill is insectivorous; major prey items include ants, beetles, bugs and lerps. Other items eaten include spiders, flies and seeds. The species usually forages in small groups of between 3-12 individuals, and may join mixed species-flocks with other small insectivorous passerines such as the speckled warbler (Chthonicola sagittatus),  weebill (Smicrornis brevirostris), and other species of thornbill.


Breeding takes place from July to December, with one, two or even more broods a year. Nesting usually occurs as a pair, but sometimes one to three helpers will assist the breeding pair. The nest is a messy dome-shaped structure made of dried grass and other vegetation hidden low down among dense foliage or shrubs, or sometimes in vines or mistletoe. Atop the dome is a cup-shaped depression which serves as a false nest, while the real nest is inside with a concealed entrance. A clutch of three or four dull-white oval eggs, lightly spotted with red-brown mostly at the large end and each measuring 18 mm × 13 mm (0.71 in × 0.51 in), is laid. The female incubates the clutch, and the clutch takes around 16–18 days to hatch. On hatching both parents help feed the brood. The nestling period is around 19 days. The species is parasitised by the shining bronze-cuckoo and the fan-tailed cuckoo. Many species of bird take eggs and chicks from the nest, including red wattlebirds, currawongs, Australian magpies and ravens, and many honeyeaters will destroy their nests in order to steal nesting material. Ringing studies have found that the species can live for up to nine years.


The brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla) is a passerine bird usually found in eastern and south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania.  It can grow up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long, and feeds on insects.  It is brown, grey and white. The species has five subspecies.


The brown thornbill is a member of the order Passeriformes, the family Acanthizidae, and the genus Acanthiza. It also has five subspecies: Acanthiza pusilla pusilla, A. p. diemenensis, A. p. zietzi, A. p. archibaldi, and A. p. dawsonensis. The species was first described by George Shaw in 1790. The nominate subspecies A. p. pusilla was described by Shaw in 1790 and the subspecies A. p. diemenensis was first described by John Gould in 1838. A. p. zietzi was described by Alfred John North in 1904, A. p. dawsonensis was described by Archibald George Campbell in 1922, and A. p. archibaldi was described by Gregory Mathews in 1910.
The generic name Acanthiza derives from Ancient Greek akantheōn 'thorn-brake' and zaō 'to live, inhabit'. The specific epithet derives from Latin pusillus 'very small'.
A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found the ancestor of the brown thornbill diverged from that of the mountain thornbill around 2 million years ago.


The brown thornbill is warm brown to olive-brown above, with flanks of olive-buff to yellowish white. It has buff scallops on the forehead and large dark red eyes. There are blackish streaks on a grey throat and breast, a tawny rump and tail base, and a black subterminal band with paler tips on the tail.
The brown thornbill ranges in size from 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 3.9 in), making it relatively small. It typically weighs 7 g (0.25 oz).


The brown thornbill can be found in the eastern and southeastern parts of Australia, including Tasmania. It is usually found within 300 kilometres (190 mi) of the coast. It shares a substantial part of its range with the inland thornbill on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range and the Mt Lofty Ranges. It is also common in the Blue Mountains. The subspecies A. p. pusilla and A. p. diemenensis have been observed near the Australian Capital Territory and on Tasmania, respectively.
Brown thornbills live at elevations up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft). They are found in dry forests with dense undergrowth, rainforests, shrublands, coastal dune thickets, and in rushes and bracken along rivers and creeks. They are sedentary and common, except in the drier parts of their range.


Brown thornbills are skilled mimics and also respond to humans imitating their calls. The calls have been described as "rich, musical warble". Their calls vary from a mellow baritone "pee-orr", high whistles with rapid cascading trills, to many squeaks and churrs. Adult brown thornbills are able to mimic the alarm calls of other birds such as the New Holland honeyeater that warn of a raptor approaching, which deters other predators such as pied currawongs from attacking their nests.


The brown thornbill is mainly an insectivore, including spiders, beetles, lerp insects, ants and grasshoppers in its diet. However, it may sometimes eat seeds, fruit, or nectar. It feeds restlessly close to the ground, in lower trees and shrubs of the understory. It often feeds in groups with other thornbills, except during the breeding season. It also forms mixed-species feeding flocks with the yellow-rumped thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa), the white-browed scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis), the speckled warbler (Pyrrholaemus sagittatus), and the eastern yellow robin (Eopsaltria australis).


Brown thornbill couples tend to pair for a long time. Their nests are dome-shaped with a hooded side-entrance and built out of grasses, bark shreds, moss and feathers or plant down, lightly bound with spider webs, and usually set low in the undergrowth among ferns or tussocks. A clutch consists of two to four eggs, with three eggs being the most common. The eggs, measuring 16 mm × 12 mm (0.63 in × 0.47 in), are whitish with red-brown freckles towards the larger rounded end. They incubate for 19 days and have a nesting period of 16 days. Their breeding season extends from July to January.


The brown thornbill is widespread with a stable population and classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The King Island brown thornbill (A. p. archibaldi) is considered to be critically endangered and most likely to go extinct, with very few sightings for many decades. A 2018 study ranked it first as the Australian bird most likely to go extinct. However, recent surveys indicate that there may be between 20 and 50 individuals of the subspecies living on the island and consequently a recovery program was expected to be formulated in late 2019.