Another winter wattle flowering in golden profusion is Acacia pulchella (Prickly Moses). Pulchella means pretty, but the spines don’t feel pretty! It grows throughout the south west, north to Geraldton and east to Esperance. Unlike some wattles it’s not salt tolerant, so doesn’t grow on coastal dunes. [1]
It looks similar to Acacia lasiocarpa which is a lower growing plant. The leaves are the main difference. [2] Acacia pulchella has flat leaves and A. lasiocarpa has the leaf edge rolled under and hairy leaves and stems. You can see the flat leaves and smooth stems in this photo.
Scientific name Acacia pulchella
Common name Prickly Moses
Flower May – October
Seed held in a pod with indented margins [2]
Fire tolerance killed by fire, but seed in the soil germinates en masse after a fire (aka postfire obligate seeders) [3] This can lead to the plant taking over, unless there are kangaroos to gobble up young plants. They always miss a few which grow on to golden splendour.
Associated wildlife insects feed on the nectar throughout the winter flowering period.
Each seed has a white aril attached. [4] This attracts ants and they take seeds into the ant nest for storage and later eating. Some of these seeds will germinate and grow into new plants.
Other insects predate the leaves and branches, producing galls. These round galls masquerade as a seed pod, if you’re not familiar with wattle seed.
Growth habit tall shrub up to 2m
Cultivation easy to grow from seed after soaking in almost boiling water to soften the hard seed coat. In the garden doesn’t mix well with kids or pets due to spines. And I don’t recommend walking into a dead one while holding a child…
Note: Do not take seed from bushland. It is illegal. On private land, with permission from the owner, you can legally collect seed for garden use.
Florabase record https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/3502
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References
- Cottesloe Coastcare (2021) Acacia pulchella
- Barrett & Tay (2016) Perth Plants (2nd ed) Perth: BGPA
- Pausas & Lamont (2022) Fire‐released seed dormancy ‐ a global synthesis Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society vol.97 no.4
- Rippey & Rowland (1995) Plants of the Perth Coast and Islands Perth: UWA Press
Ockham's Razor 