The indigenous Acacias in Westgate Park are looking spectacular and it will be a bumper season for flowers, pollen and seeds.
At Bili Nursery we propagate 13 species of Acacia; everything from tall forest trees to low shrubs. There is no indigenous genus in Victoria that is more diverse, more showy, more important to fauna or hardier than wattles.
Now is the wake-up time for insects ready to feast on Acacia’s pollen and new growth, kicking off the food-chain that sustains birds, native bees, microbats, skinks and so much more.
Interesting facts:
- Acacia flowers produce pollen but not nectar. That said, the phyllode glands do secrete a sugary substance and ants, bees, butterflies and other insects have been observed feeding on these secretions.
- Pollen is the microscopic grain produced by the male parts of the plant when it flowers. For Acacia flowers the pollen is relatively heavy (compared to grasses) and needs to be carried to the female parts of the plant to reproduce so it is unlikely to be responsible hayfever. See here for more on this.