Encyclopedia
of Stanford Trees, Shrubs, and VinesEncyclopedia
of Stanford Trees, Shrubs, and Vines
Widely used as a rapidly growing screen, Sydney golden
wattle appears in the form of small trees at the Bechtel International 
Center
(between Mayfield Avenue and Lagunita Drive), as shrubs between Roth Way and
Serra Street, and in front of 340
Bonair Siding in a landscape featuring Australian and New Zealand plants.
Three largish trees are opposite 770 Santa Ynez Street. The germinating seedlings
exhibit a pair of feathery leaves, but from then on only 4- or 5-inch long phyllodes
are produced; they are almost straight on one side and each with a few parallel
veins. A gland will be found near the base on one edge. The yellow flowers,
in the form of catkins an inch or 2 long, make a pleasing display from March
to May, especially against the new foliage whose light green color is often
sufficient to identify this species at a distance. The seeds were reportedly
roasted and eaten by the Tasmanians in the 18th century.
Acacias have been used to stabilize sand dunes; Golden Gate Park was created, starting in 1871, from windswept sand dunes that had little natural vegetation. After the dunes were leveled and the swamp filled in with the aid of horse-drawn scoops (as also used for leveling the Quad site by cutting along Escondido Mall and filling along Serra Street to create the descent to the Oval), San Francisco’s sand was stabilized with hundreds of thousands of acacias, especially Sydney golden wattle, which tolerates sand, salt wind, and summer dryness and makes a fine floral display. The park was created by engineer-designer William H. Hall, as recounted by Elizabeth McClintock in The Trees of Golden Gate Park and San Francisco (Heyday Books, Berkeley, 2001).
Illustration: McMinn, Howard E. and Evelyn Maino. 1951. An illustrated manual of Pacific coast trees; with lists of trees recommended for various uses on the Pacific coast by H. W. Shepherd. 2d ed. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
Other campus Acacias: Acacia baileyana | Acacia dealbata | Acacia longifolia | Acacia melanoxylon | Acacia notes | Acacia pravissima | Acacia redolens | Acacia retinodes | Acacia verticillata
Illustrations (links open new windows): gallery
Additions/Revisions:Name derivation, genus | species Greek akis, a sharp point | with long leaves
Related material: Botanical
name index | Common name index | Family
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