Acacia jackesiana

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Betsy’s wattle is Acacia jackesiana, a small shrub native to north-eastern Queensland, Australia. It’s in the Acacia genus and was named after botanist Dr Betsy Jackes of James Cook University.

The plant is a low, spreading shrub that typically grows about 1 metre tall. It has red-brown, angular branches and, like other Acacias, it has phyllodes (leaf-like blades) instead of true leaves. The evergreen phyllodes are long and thin, 9–14 cm long and about 0.8–1 mm wide. They’re made up of overlapping small plates and have one main vein at each angle, giving 8–12 veins in total.

Betsy’s wattle flowers from July to October. It forms yellow cylindrical flower spikes about 1.2–2.2 cm long. After flowering, it produces slender seed pods that are 6–10.5 cm long and light brown with noticeable margins. Inside, the seeds are arranged lengthwise; they’re oval, about 4.8–5.4 mm long, and have a thin groove.

This species is endemic to north-eastern Queensland, including areas around the Argentine mine about 60 km southwest of Townsville. It grows on plains and in gorges in brown loamy soils over Argentine schist, within Eucalyptus woodland communities.