Silver Wattle

	Photographer - John Broomfield Source - Museum Victoria
	Photographer - Ross Field		Photographer - Ross Field
	Photographer - John Broomfield Source - Museum Victoria

Acacia dealbata

This is a tall, hardy, adaptable, fine, fast growing tree with smooth bark and feathery blue-grey foliage.

It is a primary coloniser after fire or disturbance and lives up to 30 years.

It suckers readily and in later years, heavy insect infestation often precedes death.

Aboriginal people crushed the bark and used it in creeks as a fish poison.

Sticky gum exudes from insect damage especially in mature trees. This is edible, either eaten as it is or dissolved as a drink. Combined with wood ash it forms a glue for fixing spear heads.

Yellowtail Black Cockatoos extract wood-boring grubs, The larvae of the Victorian Hairstreak butterfly feed on the foliage and are attended by strong smelling (formic acid) black ants. Wasp galls are commonly evident.

Early industries involved harvesting tannin-rich bark (for skin tanning) and gum.

The State's faunal emblem, Leadbeater's Possum, feeds on tree exudates.