Download Article 68 Acacia baileyana - Botanical Society of South Africa

Weeds in our Area (Part Sixty Eight)
By Bob and Ena McIntyre, Botanical Society of S.A. – Garden Route Branch
Before we revert to more of the “feathery” Acacias – a correction: Our previous article (No 67)
about Acacia podalariifolia missed two important descriptive words, and should read as follows: …….. by
sporting oval or elliptic phyllodes (leaf-like petiole with no blade)……. This is pretty important because other
Acacias e.g. Blackwood, rooikrans, etc also have phyllodes but these are mostly long and narrow or blade shaped.
Please accept our apologies for any confusion.
Bailey’s Wattle (Acacia baileyana) originating from New South Wales, SE Australia, was recommended in the
1950’s as the Acacia “best for gardens…..being decorative in form……quick growing and tolerating both
drought and frost”. Like all the others it found a very happy, comfortable and enemy-free home. Many of
these are commonly seen in gardens. Today Bailey’s wattle is listed as a Category Three invader (plants in
existence before 30 March 2001 - may be kept but no new plantings are permitted). The species is not a
major invader in our area at this stage but it does occur in many gardens. It is inclined to seed itself and
seedlings are often found close to a ‘mother’ plant. The plant is categorised as a potential transformer. This
means that our indigenous vegetation runs the risk of being “out-competed” by invasive species with no
natural enemies. Invariably this type of transformation of the landscape also seriously impacts on general
biodiversity and water resources.
Identification: Bailey’s wattle is a small
unarmed evergreen tree 3-6 meters tall,
but can at times reach up to 9 meters with
grey or bluish foliage. The leaves are small
20-50mm long, bipinnate spirally arranged
around the branchlets with 2-4 pairs of
pinnae, with a gland at the junction of
each pinnae pair or sometimes only at the
top few pairs. The flowers are bright
yellow arranged in globular flower heads in
large showy sprays from July to
September.
Control: The spread of Acacia baileyana
needs to be kept in check as with all other
invasive Australian acacias. Cut stumps
coppice easily and will therefore require
herbicide treatment.
References: “ALIEN WEEDS AND INVASIVE PLANTS” : Lesley Henderson. Copyright © 2001 Agricultural
Research Council. Ornamental Shrubs and Trees for gardens in Southern Africa: Una van der Spuy, The A-Z
of Gardening in SA: W.G. Sheat, Flowering shrubs and Trees for SA Gardens: Sima Eliovson
Substitutes: Psychotria capensisr (Bird berry), Podalyria calyptrata (Pink keurtjie), Polygala myrtifolia
(September bush)
BotSoc Forthcoming Events
Bitou Twig: August 19th: De Vasselot Ramble – please contact Jean or Maaike below
Knysna Twig: August 27th: Brenton Outing – please contact Chris Gow below
BotSoc Contacts in your area: George/Wilderness: McIntyre’s 044 877 1360
Knysna: Chris Gow 044 387 1978, Ariane Rohloff 044 382 7993
Mossel Bay: Lucretia van der Walt 044 691 3230. Stilbaai: Janet Naude 028 754 1106
Plettenberg Bay (Bitou Twig): Jean Sparg 044 533 2625, Maaike Murphy 044 531 6857