01/09/2026
Acacia not aware... Today is Wattle Day!
Think you know wattles? There’s more to them than their beautiful golden flowers.
Australia is home to more than 1,000 species of Acacia, making wattles one of our most diverse groups of native plants with the oldest known specimen currently estimated at 650 years old.
Here are a few things you might not know:
- They can improve soil: Wattles are nitrogen-fixing plants, helping to improve soil conditions and making them valuable in revegetation and land rehabilitation.
- Those aren't leaves! The flat, leaf-like structures found on many wattles are actually phyllodes — specially adapted stems that help reduce water loss.
- They've been used for thousands of years: First Nations Australians have traditionally used Acacias for food, medicine, tools, musical instruments, glues, dyes and perfumes.
- Not every wattle is yellow! Cinnamon Wattle (Acacia leprosa) has a striking red-flowering form. Even more fascinating, cuttings from the original red-flowering plant retain those red flowers!
- Wattle seed is food! Roasted wattle seed is now appearing in foods such as biscuits, cakes and muesli, adding a distinctly Australian flavour.
- And they have tough seeds! Wattle seeds have a hard outer coating. In propagation, this can be broken down using techniques such as scarification or hot-water treatment to encourage germination.
And, of course, our Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is Australia's national floral emblem and each new Australian polymer bank notes features a different species of wattle.
So this Wattle Day, take a closer look at the wattles around you.
There's a lot more going on than meets the eye!
