Eprapah Wattle

Winter is the time when most of the wattles flower. Eprapah Wattle (Acacia perangusta) is quite common in the Shire growing mostly along creeks, but also near tidal flats, areas that have been cleared and on moisture retentive soils. Even though it is fairly common in our Shire it is listed as vunerable in the Nature Conservation Act.

Acacia perangusta is a very attractive wattle. It is usually less than 4 metres high, weeping in habit and covered in a mass of pale yellow wattle flowers in late winter. It is very fast growing and a pioneer plant which colonises disturbed ground and prepares the way for longer lived plants. The roots of this plant carry small pink nodules that are able to fix nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that other plants can use as fertiliser. This plant has very fine phyllodes (leaf stems that take over the role of leaves).

Caution! There is some concern that this species could become lost in the Shire. A very similar plant, Acacia fimbriata, the Brisbane Wattle, is very similar in appearance, flowers at the same time, and often hybridises. How to tell them apart is the question. Acacia perangusta has finer, longer phyllodes which are less than 2mm wide. A. fimbriata has a gland 1 to 6 mm from the base, whereas A. perangusta has a gland 7 to 14 mm from the base of the phyllode. If you live in the southern half of the Shire it is probably a good idea to avoid planting A. fimbriata, the Brisbane wattle, to help avoid the possibility of our wild population of A. perangusta becoming hybridised and thus disappearing.

(from Beating 'round the bush, by Redland Shire Council)