Acacia mollifolia

Acacia mollifolia, commonly known as the hairy silver wattle, velvet acacia and hoary silver wattle is a species of Acacia native to eastern Australia.

Description
The spreading shrub or small tree typically grows to a height of 1.5 to 6 m and has smooth to finely fissured bark. The terete branchlets have low pale rusty to silvery grey coloured ridges. The filiform silvery grey coloured leaves are supported on a stalk that is 0.2 to 0.7 cm in length and quite hairy. The leaves form along a rachis that is 1 to 6.5 cm in length and made up of 4 to 10 pairs of pinnae that are 0.8 to 4 cm in length and in turn are made up of 7 to 27 pairs of narrowly oblong to linear shaped pinnules that have a length of 2.5 to 7.15 mm in length and 0.5 to 0.8 mm wide and covered with silvery coloured and finely textured hairs. It blooms throughout the year but mostly between March and May forming simple inflorescences in axillary racemes with spherical flower-heads that have a diameter of 3 to 6 mm and contain 20 to 40 bright yellow coloured flowers. Following flowering leathery seed pods form that are densley covered in silver-grey-brown hairs. The pods are straight to slightly curved and vaguely resemble a string of beads. They have a length of 3 to 12 cm and a width of 4 to 7 mm.

Taxonomy
The specific epithet is formed from the Latin words mollis meaning soft or pliant and folium meaning leaf in reference to the soft and hairy leaves of the plant. It is closely related to Acacia fulva.

Distribution
A. mollifolia is endemism to the central tablelands and central western slopes of New South Wales with the bulk of the population found to the west of Peakhill, Boorowa and Bathurst areas to around Rankins Springs where it is often situated on sandstone ridges and on alluvial plains a part of dry sclerophyll forest or woodland communities dominated by species of Eucalyptus and Callitris.