15 August 2011

Acacia or Wattle

This last month of winter is not all dark and leafless here in Sydney.  The wattle trees are in full bloom and brightening up our grey cloudy skys.  According to the Australian Native Plant Society we have 954 of the 1200 genus of Acacia.  The next largest occurance is in Africa.  The wattle is our National Floral emblem and we call it wattle rather than acacia for historical reasons.  The first buildings of the English settlements were made using the very old 'wattle and daub' technique of interwoven branches coated in mud and the local acacia trees were the most useful and so the yellow flowering shrubs or small trees became known as Wattle trees.  Here are a few in flower now in my area:
small wattle bush

Wattle tree buds

Wattle tree flowers

another version of wattle.  I like the upright red branches.

3 comments:

Linda Starr said...

I love the red twigged one. Your water feature below is wonderful, All the barrel fired pieces I had done come out black, I am amazed that a pit firing came out so white with the blue showing.

Anna said...

Thanks Linda. I was working with a very experienced pit firer when I did those. Just the right placement and a little sprinkle of copper oxide to get the colours.

Anna said...

Oh and glad you like the red branches of the wattle. There are so many varieties I couldn't choose a favourite :^)