Common name: Green Wattle, Black Wattle Family name: Mimosaceae Botanical name: Acacia mearnsii Family: Mimosaceae Flowering/fruiting season: Flowers in spring; seeds in summer Location: Common (Eddy et al., 1998:146) Slopes of Black Mountain; near Lake George (Burbidge & Gray, 1976:204)

Use:

• Food, medicine, technology
• Gum exuding from branches is eaten as a treat in the bush (Wreck Bay Community & Renwick, 2000:33)
• Gum oozes from trunk where tree is damaged - water-soluble, made into drinks. Gum used as adhesive; bark used for string, containers; also medicine (Gott, 1995)

Notes:
In many regions of Australia there are records of the use of different parts of wattle plants for different purposes. Some species have edible seeds/seed pods, most of which require processing before eating: green seed pods need to be cooked lightly in the ashes; hard, dry seeds can be ground into flour and then mixed with water to form a paste which tastes similar to peanut butter! See Latz (1995:49-53) for discussion of wattle seeds still in use as food in Central Australia.

Language names:

• nummerak : 'wattle' Monaro
• gabira : 'wattle' S. Ngarigo
• matruk :'wattle' Ngarigo (Flood, 1980:359)

Horticulture :
Propagate from scarified seed; very hardy, fast growing tree to 10m (Wrigley & Fagg, 1998:491)

Similar species:
A. parramattensis

Use code:
GUM

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