Acacia pravissima 'Golden Carpet'

Common Name:
Ovens wattle
Plant Type:
Evergreen shrub
Family:
Fabaceae (The Pea Family)
Geographic Origin:
Australia
California Native?:
No

Plant Size:
2-3 feet high by 15 feet wide
Landscape/Garden Uses:
ground cover
Flowering Season:
Winter and spring

Flower Color:
Yellow
Exposure:
Sun or light shade
Soils:
Most soils

Suggested Irrigation:
Moderate to little watering
Estimated Hardiness:
Hardy to 15-20 degrees F.

Our sparse offering for this genus is a sad testament to the problems caused by a few seriously invasive species like A. decurrens and A. melanoxylon. A. pravissima is a better-behaved shrub or small tree, popular in Australia, which has yielded some interesting forms. 'Golden Carpet' is one of the most unusual. It forms a broad mound overall, up to 4 feet high and 8-15 feet broad. More interesting is that each stem arches out and down, following a sinuous path. Older stems show attractive pale bark. Closely set along the younger stems are triangular grey-green phyllodes (leaf-like stems), up to an inch long. In early spring sprays of small ball-like flower heads, brilliant yellow in color, issue from the shoot tips. This is a striking shrub for display on a raised mound or other conspicuous spot, also useful for large scale ground cover. It is best in sun, tolerating a wide range of soils and watering regimes (it is fairly drought tolerant), and hardy to something below 20 degrees F. This is one of a vast number of fine Australian selections provided by the U.C. Santa Cruz Arboretum.