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Acacia schinoides is an erect tree or shrub 10 m high and 7 m wide.
It is restricted to coastal central NSW, including the north-western Cumberland Plain, Hornsby Plateau and the Hunter River Valley (Lane Cove to Maitland) growing in deep shady gullies usually near creeks. It has naturalised into coastal Victoria. Members John Arney and Dan Clarke have also observed it growing in the vegetation of Kamay National Park, Kurnell (near Cook’s and Banks’ landing place), where it is assumed to be non-natural.
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 wattle belongs to Group 3.
Leaves are bipinnate to about 20 cm long, to 15 cm wide with new leaves a bronze colour. Leaflets are up to 25 mm long to 5 mm wide.
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, Being a bipinnate wattle, up to 50 flowers are produced in globular heads, to 10 mm in diameter. The heads are arranged in axillary panicles or racemes and a pale yellow colour, creating a showy display, mainly from November to February
Seed pods are straight, flat to 16 cm long and to about 1.5 cm wide.
It is a fast-growing tree in well-composted soil. It accepts full sun to heavy shade. It can likely grow on any well-drained soil.
It has also been introduced into Kenya and Zimbabwe and it is cultivated there.
It may become weedy in any local habitat so consider carefully if your garden adjoins bushland.
It is an attractive wattle with jacaranda-like foliage. It can grow large.
Acacias can suffer from a number of pests, including borers, scale, galls and leaf miners. Growing plants suitable to your local environment minimises these pests occurring.
Propagation is easy from scarified seed by covering with boiling water for 24 hours and discarding any seeds still floating on the surface.
Most wattles will die in a fire and regenerate from seed. Some species exhibit suckering from basal parts and roots.
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.
schinoides – Latin – refers to the likeness of the compound foliage to that of the pepper tree (genus Schinus).
This species is not known to be at risk of extinction in the wild, although its range is limited.
Australian National Herbarium – Acacia schinoides profile page http://www.anbg.gov.au/acacia/species/A-schinoides.html
Wattle – Acacias of Australia – Acacia schinoides fact sheet https://apps.lucidcentral.org/wattle/text/entities/acacia_schinoides.htm
NSW Flora Onlione (PlantNET) https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Acacia~schinoides
Wrigley, J.W. & Fagg, M.I. (2001). Australian Native Plants – Propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping. 4th edition. New Holland Publishers, Pty. Ltd. Australia.