Getting ready for Wattle Day

It seems to me that this year the wattles are getting well ready for Wattle Day (1 September for any non-Australians reading this).  In fact it seems that some of them are somewhat early, despite a pretty cool Winter.  So I thought I would take some photos of the situation in mid-August.  I have tried to make a scratch in the dirt to redo the images from the same spot on the day itself.

The earliest flowering wattle on our place is Acacia gunnii.  It is a rather small , sparsely flowering species which makes it a bugger to locate in the middle of a paddock of Kunzea ericoides.  However I managed.
I received a little editorial feedback that the image above was excessively underwhelming even for this species so I went and too another snap (or 4, it is definitely trying to make a silk purse from a feral pig's ear).  Here is my best effort.
When looked at more closely the flowers do have a waif-like charm.
The commonest wattle in this area is A. dealbata (Silver Wattle).
The 'silver' in the common name comes from the colour of the leaves.  OK, use your imagination a little!
A. falciformis: this usually flowers in Summer, so it isn't surprising that it doesn't have a hint of yellow at present.  Apart, that is, from an A dealbata growing in the background!  Planted by us, thank you Greening Australia, but OK for the area.
 An A. rubida planted by us.  First a "whole of tree" image  ...
 ... then a close-up of some of the flowers.
 A. mearnsii from direct seeding (again thank you Greening Australia).
A. buxifolia, also from the direct seeding.  These were very successful at first but seem to be getting out-competed by the A meansii as the trees develop (they are now about 8 years old).
 A close-up of the A. buxifolia.
A couple of foreigners (ie ones that are not at all native to the area).  Our drive is lined with A pravissima, which is still about a month off hitting its straps.  According to the thumbnail map on Plantnet that seems (I stress "seems") to be native to the Western side of the Brindabellas, so is probably a bit puzzled by two lots of recent snow.  However Ian Fraser has commented that there is a clump on Boboyan Road so my suspicions are wrong - and it would be quite at home with occasional snowfall.
There are a couple of patches of A. boormanii in the area which appear to have escaped.  Its vernacular name is Snowy River Wattle: guess where it is mainly found?
It is possibly not the most lurid of the wattles, but definitely a contender as it tends to grow in clumps with very bright yellow flowers.

Comments

Ian Fraser said…
Nice pics Martin. PlantNet might have led you astray a bit with regard to the A. pravissima; there are very nice stands of it along the Boboyan Road, especially just south of Glendale Crossing.
14 August 2015 at 10:28:00 GMT+10
Flabmeister said…
Thanks Ian: I have revised the point about A pravissima. Also I have received an editorial suggestion that even though A gunnii is a bit unspectacular my image understates things a bit too much so I am directed to go get anothery. Watch that space.

Martin
14 August 2015 at 13:54:00 GMT+10
Ian Fraser said…
Harsh editor! Good luck with that....
15 August 2015 at 09:52:00 GMT+10
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