Acacia decurrens

Green wattle, Green Wattle

Family: Fabaceae · Type: tree · Not Native

Green wattle is a naturalized tree found in southern California coastal areas and the Peninsular Ranges in disturbed areas and floodplains at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from February to April, this tree produces bright yellow flowers in racemes occasionally forming panicles of 10 to 30 heads. Growing to heights less than 15 meters with unarmed branches, it features distinctive 2-pinnate olive-green leaves with winged twigs. Its leaves have complex structures with main axes featuring raised glands between leaflet pairs, with primary leaflets arranged in 3 to 13 pairs and secondary leaflets numbering 15 to 45 pairs. The fruit develops as a dark brown, nearly straight pod 2 to 11 centimeters long and 4 to 8 millimeters wide, with light yellow, club-shaped arils forming a distinctive cap.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas, floodplains

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: SCo, PR

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.