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Acacia floribunda is a small tree / large shrub growing to 8 metres tall, usually with a broad spread of several metres.
It is widespread in forests and woodlands in the sub-tropical and warmer temperate regions of eastern Australia from Victoria to Queensland. In NSW, it is found through most of the coastal areas, spreading somewhat into the tablelands and western slopes (some populations may be from naturalisations). It is scattered through the eastern half of Victoria with some records around Horsham. It mainly goes as far as Brisbane in Queensland with a few records near Biloela. It has naturalised in South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia as well as New Zealand.
It grows mainly in coastal eucalypt woodland communities in the coastal and tablelands subdivisions (i.e. in wet and dry sclerophyll forests) and is most commonly found in alluvial soils along watercourses.
Australian Wattles at least, can be broadly placed into 1 of 3 recognisable groups:
Phyllodes and bipinnate leaves are always alternate to clustered, never opposite.
This plant belongs to Group 2.
Phyllodes (modified leaves) are narrowly elliptic to linear, straight or slightly curved, to 15 cm long and 1 cm wide, usually narrower and shorter in most plants and somewhat weeping.
Acacia spp. produce small 5-merous flowers, with 5 very small petals partly-fused into a short tube which sits above a fused calyx. The stamens are the main feature which are produced in high numbers per flower (staminate flowers), surrounding a single style. In this species, the flower spikes, consisting of many staminate flowers can be up to 8 cm long, with 1 or more produced in leaf axils and pale yellow in colour.
Seed pods are straight to strongly curved, raised over and constricted between seeds, to 12 cm long and 0.4 cm wide.
Cultivated extensively and suitable for most sunny situations as it is quick growing hence its suitability as a hedge or screen plant. As well, it is useful for controlling erosion, especially in gullies.
Will withstand frosts to -7°C.
Acacias can suffer from a number of pests, including borers, scale, galls and leaf miners. Growing plants suitable to your local environment minimises these occurring.
Mature specimens of this species often have large galls – which aids identification somewhat.
Some people are allergic to A. floribunda pollen.
Propagation is easy from scarified seed by covering with boiling water for 24 hours and discarding any seeds still floating on the surface.
There is a dwarf form growing less than one metre and is sold as Acacia floribunda ‘Little Flori’.
Most wattles regenerate from seed after fire. Some species can sucker from basal parts.
Acacia is a highly diverse genus, with over 1500 recognised species (placing it in the top-10 most-diverse plant genera) occurring in most continents except for Europe. Australia has about 970 spp., most of which are endemic. There are also about 10 exotic species. NSW has about 235 recognised species. Some species have become weeds in other states outside of their natural range (e.g., wattles from Western Australia into NSW and vice versa).
Acacia – from Greek Akakia – which refers to an Ancient Greek preparation made from one of the many species; the name of which derives from akis, meaning “thorn” – referring to the thorns of species in Africa.
floribunda – Latin – referring to its floriferous or free-flowering nature.
This species is not considered at risk of extinction in the wild.
Australian National Herbarium – Acacia floribunda profile page http://www.anbg.gov.au/acacia/species/A-floribunda.html
NSW Flora Online (PlantNET) – Acacia floribunda profile page
http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Acacia~floribunda
Wrigley, J.W. & Fagg, M.I. (2001). Australian Native Plants – Propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping. 4th edition. New Holland Publishers, Pty. Ltd. Australia.