Acacia vestita hairy wattle

Acacia vestita at Manzanita Field. Sairus Patel, 21 Feb 2022

Acacia vestita flower and leaves, Campus Drive. Sairus Patel, 3 Mar 2019

A gracefully weeping habit distinguishes this large shrub introduced on campus in recent years. Fuzzy phyllodes about ⅓ inch long, narrower than those of A. cultriformis, make stroking the delicate branchlets irresistible as one passes by. Bright yellow flowers smother the plants in February.

Several were planted in 2013 on Campus Drive near the Knight Management Center garage ramp, opposite the Maples Pavilion parking lot. More followed in the Campus Drive median there. Others were planted in Manzanita Field after the construction of the underground garage in 2021: some at the bike parking on Campus Drive, and several around the underground ventilation structure on the south, among a throng of other fellow Australians.

Acacia vestita on Campus Drive. Sairus Patel, 3 Mar 2019

Name derivation: Acacia – Greek akis, a sharp point; vestita – clothed (the hairy phyllodes).