Gossamer Wattle (Acacia floribunda)

Description

Acacia floribunda, commonly known as Gossamer Wattle, is a fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing evergreen shrub or small tree native to eastern Australia. It thrives in full sun to part shade and is highly adaptable to a variety of soil types, including poor or sandy soils, making it an excellent choice for regenerative plantings, native revegetation, and permaculture systems.

Typically growing 3–6 metres tall, Gossamer Wattle features slender, drooping branches and soft, narrow phyllodes (leaf-like structures), giving it a graceful, weeping habit. In late winter to early spring, it produces masses of pale cream to yellow, sweetly fragrant flower spikes that attract bees, beneficial insects, and small birds, enhancing biodiversity and seasonal interest.

Functionally, Acacia floribunda plays a vital role in ecosystem support. As a legume, it improves soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen, making it a natural companion to fruit trees and nutrient-hungry crops. Its fast growth and dense canopy offer quick shelter, erosion control, windbreak capacity, and shade in young food forests or exposed sites. It also produces useful biomass for mulch or chop-and-drop practices.

While not widely used for human food, Gossamer Wattle has been used in traditional bush medicine, and its fast-growing, softwood timber is occasionally harvested for small craft or fencing purposes. Anecdotally, some have explored its potential in natural dyeing and even alternative therapeutic uses, though these uses are niche and not scientifically established.