Feature Weed

Flinders Range Wattle

(Acacia iteaphylla)

Flinders Range Wattle is a highly invasive species that threatens bushland. It is a dense shrub 2-5m high with smooth greenish bark on younger plants and weeping branchlets. Foliage is blue-green with narrow, leaf-like phyllodes 5-14cm long. The pale to lemon yellow, ball-shaped flowers are produced from April through to September.

Produces high volumes of highly viable seed each year and is commonly cultivated in nurseries. It has now become a serious environmental weed. The Flinders Range Wattle colonises roadsides and bushland areas, displacing native species and reduces biodiversity.

Control methods are to hand pull small seedlings, ensuring to remove the whole root, larger trees can be cut and painted or ringbarked, applying glyphosate. It is recommended to use glyphosate with caution and applied by a licensed contractor.

Flinders Range Wattle

Photo: Plants out of Place (Shire of Mundaring, 2020)