Acacia pycnantha

Golden wattle

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Golden wattle is a naturalized shrub found in the central coast, southern coast, and southern Channel Islands in disturbed areas at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering in February, this plant produces bright golden yellow flowers in racemes occasionally forming panicles with 10 to 30 heads. Growing as a small shrub or tree up to 8 meters tall with unarmed twigs, it has a smooth, glabrous stem structure. Its leaves are simple, sickle-shaped, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, measuring 9 to 15 centimeters long with a prominent midvein. The fruit is a dark brown, leathery pod 5 to 13 centimeters long, typically straight and 5 to 7 millimeters wide.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas

Bloom period: Feb

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCo, s ChI

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