Hi Mad --
It's too dark and wet to really investigate the plant with all the
info you have given me. But since the Rose-flowering Acacia is
considered an invasive weed and the Silver Wattle is not, I'm willing
to bet it's the Red Acacia.
This plant started as a volunteer in front of my house. One of my
neighboors from down the block asked me about it. He said he remembered
as a boy in Italy after WWII the males in the family giving the females
yellow flowers from the Acacia trees in early March. It was not just
his family, everyone honored the women in town by presenting them with
Acacia blooms. He said my volunteer reminded him very much of the
Acacia trees from which they got the flowers.
I very much wanted this to be the tree of his boyhood memories.
Thank you for all the info you have supplied.
madgardener wrote:
"told2b" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi --
Is there an easy way for a beginner gardener
to identify an acacia seedling?


The seedling in question she wants me to dig up is two foot
tall, the upright, suckering shrub has bristly shoots and pinnate, dark
green leaves (12 inches) long, composed of 9-13 ovate to broadly elliptic
leaflets.

The proper name so you can look it up is Robinia (Fabaceae) hispida. the
common names are rose acacia, bristly locust. It will get between six foot
to ten foot tlal, hardy from zones 5-8, originates from the southeastern
part of the US, likes sun or light shade (Miz Mary's all face Southwards
with western exposure, well actually hers get ALL exposures). It likes well
drained soil (LOVES the shoulder of the gravel driveway, but is doing just
fine with the clay soil as it suckers along the drive). And it's growth rate
is rather fast.

Acacia dealbata is an open, evergreen tree with fern-like 2-pinnate, hairy
leaves, 5 inches long. Each with 40-80 linear, glaucous to silvery leaflets.
Terminal racemes, 4-8 inches long, of spherical, fragrant yellow
flowerheads, 1/4 inch across and are borne from winter to spring, from New
South Wales to Tasmania, zones 9-10.

now which is it? Pink rose acacia, or the silver mimosa tree?

hope these descriptions help. (by the way, if I want to lift the seedling
shoot of the Robinia hispida or pink bristly locust, I have to sever the
roots and leave the sapling for a bit while it callouses and grows from it's
mother shoot. Once I do that, it will lift. I've tried to dig up about five
of these saplings that pop up down from the original clump and they don't
transplant. Just only recently discovered you have to do this first.

The common Robinia pseudo-acacia (black locust) has blue-green foliage and
more handsome. The prominent bristles on the branches and leaf petioles
account for the common name bristly locust, and spines on the bark and
stems, twigs and branches of the honey locust. Once established, the honey
locust also has another name......iron wood tree. (a most loved home of the
very proliferous flying squirrel that we have here, I have some in a hollow
trunk of an old honey locust tree on the east side of my house near the
first drop off terrace into my woods)

The pink acacia fixes nitrogen since it's actually a kissing cousin of the
pea family. I adore the wisteria like clusters of flowers in the late
spring. And this year with the cooler spells we had, Miz Mary's shrubby
trees bloomed again a bit lesser, but had some pink flowers nevertheless.

I do hope this helps.
madgardener up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English
Mountain in Eastern Tennessee..zone 7, Sunset zone 36 where I'll try one
more time to lift some of Miz Mary's pink hairy locust saplings. g