SPECIES: Acacia phasmoides — Phantom Wattle
CLASSIFICATION: Vulnerable
Of our native Acacia species - some 1000 unique species - 77 carry a conservation status from vulnerable up to critically endangered. This week, we highlight Phantom Wattle, endemic to south-eastern Australia and listed as vulnerable. Phantom Wattle grows up to 4m high with golden-yellow, globular flowers at the join of thread-like leaves. It's a plant found growing in shrubby woodland, on sandy granitic soil near creeks or in rocky crevices. The remaining populations are quite in isolation from each other, and so increasing the risk of local extinction in the case of catastrophic events. Grazing by feral animals and invasive weeds also threaten the remaining plants.
Photo: M Fagg