Flora of New Zealand Series

Parramatta green wattle

Shrub to small tree; twigs angled, ± glabrous or with few to many, very fine appressed hairs. Lvs 2-pinnate, alternate, glabrous or with fine appressed hairs on rachis and sparsely ciliate pinnules; pinnae in (5)-8-12-(14) pairs; pinnules in 20-40 pairs, close set to widely spaced, dark green, narrow-oblong, obtuse or subacute, entire, 2-4-(5) × c. 0.5 mm; petiole 15-35 mm long; stipules inconspicuous; solitary glands present between each pair of pinnae including basal pair, additional, smaller solitary glands usually present between the pairs of pinnae. Infl. of numerous, many-flowered, pale yellow, globose heads; heads arranged in axillary, simple or compound racemes ± = lvs. Fls 5-merous, sessile. Pod glabrous, straight, 30-120 × 4-7 mm; aril scarcely folded, thickened below and to one side of seed.

N.: established locally in Northland and Bay of Plenty; S.: Taylor R. (Blenheim) and vicinity of Nelson.

New South Wales 1981

Waste places, riverbeds, dry hillsides.

FL Nov-Jan-(Apr).

R. parramattense is often confused with R. decurrens, but may be distinguished by the shorter closer-set pinnules, the later flowering time, and the occasional presence of additional glands between the pairs of pinnae. The sparsely hairy twigs distinguish R. parramattense from R. dealbatum and R. mearnsii. The Parramatta green wattle was only recently recorded as naturalised in N.Z., although it was first collected in the wild in 1959; this is in part a result of confusion with other 2-pinnate wattles. For the same reason, distributions given for this sp., R. dealbatum, R. decurrens and R. mearnsii, must be considered provisional.