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For many years, however, the popularity of the wattle has been developing on the aesthetic side, and 
at the present -time probably no plant, or, rather, group of plants, for there are many of them, is so admired 
and beloved by Australians. 
And n<5t content with the name of wattle, we give them many other names, such as myall, inulga, 
boree, brigalow, cooba, dead finish, gidgee, hickory, miljee, eumung, sally, umbrella bush, wait-a while, 
yarran, and I could quote dozens of others. Qualifying adjectives there are in abundance, such as silver, 
golden, weeping, black, green, broad-leaf, narrow-leaf, -prickly, and many others, but very few of thf in 
specially de.ssriptivc or capable of accurate determination. 
The feathery wattle has true leaves and many of them, bat Australia has the monopoly of what 
are termed phyllodineous acacias ; that is to say, wattles whose "leaves" are structurally not true leaves, 
but a flattened expansion of the stem, the black wood being a well-known example. A few of the North 
Australian species of this class extend to New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, areas which certainly are 
within the sphere of Australian influence. Strange to say, the Dominion of New Zealand does not 
possess a single species of indigenous wattle those which have been planted of recent years being our 
tanning wattles, and the black woo 3, valuable for its timber. 
A well-known group of acacias is that which yields the acacia gum of commerce; they are thorny 
bushes, or small trees, and are natives of Africa, Asia or America. In no part of the world, however, are 
acacias such an important and decorative part of the vegetation as with us. The origin of the name is not 
free from doubt, but it is supposed to bo from the Greek akizo (I sharpen) in allusion to the spiny nature 
of the plants just referred to. 
Over 500 species of acacia have been described in various parts of the world, and two-thirds of them 
are Australian. Rich in species as Australia is, she is wealthy, as we all know, in individuals. It is one 
o! the joys of life to drive through wattle country, particularly on a dull spring morning, and feast the 
senses on the never- to be-forgotten glories of the golden cascades, and to receive vigour and inspiration from 
the sweet, dainty perfume. 
Wattles are divided into two large groups : one in which the flowers form little fluffy balls, and 
the other in which they form short rods (botanists call them spikes) respectively. Now a single ball or 
spike (it is the very embodiment of softness and silkincss in spite of the suggestion of aggressiveness of the 
name) consists of an aggregate of flowers, and if a magnifying glass of moderate power be taken, one can 
readily see the minute yet perfect flowers of which they are composed. One frail little fluffy ball, so 
tender that it wilts at once and is readily blown about by a gentle breeze, is an .aggregate of flowers each 
as perfect as that of a buttercup ; and the calyx with its component sepals, the corolla with its constituent 
petals, the many stamens, and the incipient pod are all there. This floral wonder is best seen when the 
wattle is not perfectly full. 
Wattles vary greatly in si/e. We have some which hardly raise themselves above the ground, so 
that we have to brush aside the grass to get a view of them. On the other hand we have wattles, in 
certain well-watered districts, which are large forest trees, of ascertained heights of more than 100 feet. 
The colour of wattle-blossoms varies from pure white to deep yellow and, rarely, orange. It has 
been called a golden flower, and it is beautiful to the true Australian, gladdening his heart like the 
precious metal ; but with this difference, that it is the most democratic of all flowers, abundant and free to 
rich and poor alike. 
The value of the plant-lore of the aborigines has been probably exaggerated, but we do know that 
they used (and still do in remote parts of this continent) to employ wattle-buds as calendars. They would 
decide on starting certain journeys or undertaking other periodical businesses on the stage of develop- 
ment of the wattle-buds ; for the opening of the first flowers of some species in certain localities takes 
place with hardly a day's variation from year to year. 
And then, have %ve ever thought of the universality of the precious wattle? It encounters the 
spray of the ocean, and unites the sand to offer resistance to the encroaching waves. If we go to the 
torrid saline sands of the interior it is still there, defiant alike to heat and drought. It adorns every 
geological formation, softening the hard outlines of the ancient rocks, for we see its beauteous plumes 
gracing the sandstone, the granite, the basalt with charming impartiality. It is the natural ornament of 
the black tablelands, of the well-drained hillsides, of the boggy alluvial lands, and defines and gilds the 
margin of the running stream. Give it soil, and it will gratefully rear its head to the sky; if an 
anchoring place and nutriment be not available, it will diminish its size and accommodate itself to its 
altered conditions. Afford it plenty of water, and the happy response is broad, luxurious foliage with 
very cascades of brilliant posies. In the desert its branchlets are reduced to spines, a Very embodiment of 
the defensive attitude necessitated by it-i severe environment. 
