Mystery Wattle - local native (Acacia difformis)

Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)

Other names: Wyalong Wattle, Drooping Wattle.

A tall shrub. The dull green leaves have a main vein and a fainter second vein. Rare. Flowering time may be mid-winter or late summer. Victorian specimens do not appear to set seed, and the plants spread by suckering. It usually occurs in copses, which may be a single suckering plant. Flowers are yellow to very pale.

It was not recognised as a Victorian Wattle until the late 1960s, when a copse was found near Thoona. It occurs in scattered localities in Victora, including the Bendigo Whipstick, Fosterville, Natte Yallock and Benalla. Local populations are in Walmer, Muckleford and Clydesdale.