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Any of the approximately 800 species of trees and shrubs that make up the genus Acacia, of the mimosa family. Acacias are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Australia and Africa. Sweet acacia (A. farnesiana) is native to the southwestern U.S. Acacias have distinctive, finely divided leaflets, and their leafstalks may bear thorns or sharp spines at their base. Their small, often fragrant, yellow or white flowers have many stamens apiece, giving each a fuzzy appearance. On the plains of southern and eastern Africa, acacias are common features of the landscape. Several species are important economically, yielding substances such as gum arabic and tannin, as well as valuable timber.
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- Wattle (anatomy), a fleshy growth hanging from the head or neck of certain animals, including humans
- Wattle-and-daub, a building technique using woven wooden supports packed with clay or mud
- Croatian wattle, decorative pattern found in medieval Croatian art
Wattle may also refer to:
Plants:
- Wattle, a common name for trees and shrubs in the genus Acacia, especially in Australia and South Africa
- Black Wattle, a common name for several species of Acacia, as well as the unrelated Callicoma
Animals:
- Wattle bagworm, caterpillar native to Southern Africa
- Wattlebird, a member of the Honeyeater family, native to Australia
- Wattle-eye, a family of small insect-eating birds native to Africa
Places:
- Wattle Cove, Auckland, New Zealand
- Wattle Downs, Auckland, New Zealand
- Wattle Glen, Victoria, Australia
- Wattle Grove, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
- Wattle Grove, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth
- Wattle Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Leeton
- Wattle Park, Melbourne, a park known for its plantation of wattle trees
- Wattle Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
- Wattle Range Council, a local government area in South Australia
- Wattles House, a house in Omaha, Nebraska, owned by Gurdon Wattles
- Wattles Mansion, a house in Hollywood, California, owned by Gurdon Wattles
Other uses:
- Wattle Day, an Australian celebration of the first day of spring
- Steam tug Wattle, a vessel formerly in commercial service in Victoria Harbour, Melbourne, Australia
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday August 06, 2008 at 14:59:38 PDT (GMT -0700)
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