Acacia verticillata prickly Moses

Light airy foliage gives this plant a pleasing appearance. The phyllodes take the form of soft needles less than an inch long grouped in whorls. They are prickly enough to be handled gingerly; this acacia is one of those known locally in Australia as prickly Moses (a corruption of mimosa). The plant became a conservatory favorite in cold climates. The somewhat elongated lemon-yellow flower heads, almost bottle brush–like, appear in late March.

A vigorous specimen in the back yard of 849 Pine Hill Road can be viewed from where the footpath from San Francisco Court joins Bowdoin Street. An impenetrable hedge of A. armata, kangaroo thorn, so fiercely armed it could scarcely be touched, used to be near this spot. An example of prickly Moses on Campus Drive opposite Via Ortega was lost to road realignment in the 1990s.

Acacia verticillata. From An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees, Howard E. McMinn & Evelyn Maino

Name derivation: Acacia – Greek akis, a sharp point; verticillata – whorled (the phyllodes).