| Umbrella wattle | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. ligulata |
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia ligulata A.Cunn. ex Benth. |
|
Acacia ligulata, commonly known as umbrella wattle, umbrella bush, dune wattle, sandhill wattle or small cooba, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Australia, it is one of the most widely distributed plants in the country, distributed even more widely than mulga, although not as common.
Umbrella wattle grows as a bushy spreading shrub up to seven metres high. Like most Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. These are greatly variable, ranging from four to ten centimetres long and five to ten millimetres wide. The flowers are an orange-yellow colour, and held in spherical clusters. The pods are woody, with constrictions between the seeds, up to twelve centimetres long and one centimetre wide.