Fabaceae: Pea Family — Acacia / Wattle
Acacias are all Australian natives. They are widely planted, sometimes invasive and simultaneously enjoyed for their brilliant yellow flowers in springtime and cursed by those who are allergic to the pollen they produce. In terms of identification, it is helpful that flowers tend to be either spherical or cylindrical and leaves are sometimes compound but mostly simple and simple leaves vary in shape and the number of veins. Strictly speaking, Acacia leaves do not have separate blades, what appear to be blades are in fact expanded and flattened petioles; this explains why they can have longitudinal veins, a characteristic that is normally confined to monocots such as lilies, irises and orchids. For simplicity, the descriptions of the plants below will ignore this technical nicety.