n.
The name is given to very many ofthe various species of Acacia (q.v.), of which thereare about 300 in Australia, besides those in Tasmania andNew Zealand. There is no English tree of that name, but theEnglish word, which is common, signifies «a twig, a flexiblerod, usually a hurdle; . . . the original sense is somethingtwined or woven together; hence it came to mean a hurdle, wovenwith twigs; Anglo-Saxon, watel, a hurdle.» (Skeat.)In England the supple twigs of the osier-willow are used formaking such hurdles. The early colonists found the long pliantboughs and shoots of the indigenous Acacias a readysubstitute for the purpose, and they used them for constructingthe partitions and outer-walls of the early houses, by forminga «wattling» and daubing it with plaster or clay. (See Wattle-and-dab.) The trees thus received the name of Wattle-trees, quickly contracted to Wattle. Owing toits beautiful, golden, sweet-scented clusters of flowers,the Wattle is the favourite tree of the Australian poetsand painters. The bark is very rich in tannin. (See Wattle-bark.) The tree was formerly called Mimosa (q.v.). The following list of vernacular namesof the various Wattles is compiled from Maiden's `UsefulNative Plants'; it will be seen that the same vernacular nameis sometimes applied to several different species – – Black Wattle – – Acacia binervata, De C., of Illawarra and South.
A. decurrens, Willd., older colonists of New South Wales.
A. cunninghamii, Hook.
A. nervifolia, Cunn.
♣ Broad-leaved W. – – A. pycnantha, Benth.
♣ Broom W. – – A. calamifolia, Sweet.
♣ Feathery W. – – A. decurrens, Willd.
♣ Golden W. (q.v.) – – A. pycnantha, Benth.; in Victoria, South Australia,and Tasmania. It is also called Green Wattle, and also,for the sake of distinction between some other tan-bark wattles,the Broad-leaved Wattle. A. longifolia, Willd.; in New South Wales andQueensland.
♣ Green W. – – A. decurrens, Willd., older colonists New South Wales.
A. pycnantha, Benth.
A. discolor, Willd.; so called in Tasmania, and called also there River Wattle.
♣ Hickory W. – – A. aulacocarpa, Cunn.
♣ Prickly W. – – A. sentis, F. v. M. A. juniperina, Willd.
♣ Silver W. – – A. dealbata, Link. Silver Wattle,owing to the whiteness of the trunk, and the silveryor ashy hue of its young foliage. A. decurrens, Willd. A. melanoxylon, R. Br. (Blackwood). A. podalyriafolia, Cunn.; called Silver Wattle,as it has foliage of a more or less grey, mealy, or silveryappearance.
♣ Weeping W. – – A. saligna, Wendl.
1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.p. 201:
«The acacias are the common wattles of this country, their barkaffording excellent tan, as well as an extract to export toEngland; while from their trunks and branches cleartransparent beads of the purest Arabian gum are seen suspendedin the dry spring weather, which our young currency bantlingseagerly search after and regale themselves with.»
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of LinnaeanSociety,' vol. xv. p. 328:
«One of my specimens . . . I shot in a green wattle-tree closeto Government House.»
1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 23:
«The black and silver Wattle (the Mimosa), are treesused in housework and furniture.»
1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 134:
« Leptospermum lanigerum, hoary tea-tree, Acaciadecurrens, and black wattle; Corraea alba, CapeBarren tea. The leaves of these have been used as substitutesfor tea in the colonies.»
1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii.c. iv. p. 132:
«Black wattle . . . indication of good soil . . . producegum.»
1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849.' p. 32:
«Few, indeed, of the native Australian flowers emit any perfumeexcept the golden and silver wattle (the Mimosae tribe):these charm the senses, and fully realize the description weread of in the `Arabian Nights' Entertainments' of thoseexotics, the balmy perfume of which is exhaled far and near.»
1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 337:
«These trees were termed `Wattles,' from being used, in theearly days of the colony, for forming a network or wattling ofthe supple twigs for the reception of the plaster in thepartitions of the houses.»
1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 40:
«Silver Wattle ( Acacia dealbata, Lindl.), so calledfrom the whiteness of the trunk and the silvery green ofthe foliage.»
1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Twenty-three Years in Tasmania andVictoria,' p. 33:
«The mimosa, or wattle, . . . ushers in the Spring with itscountless acres of charming and luxuriant yellow and highlyscented blossom . . . The tanning properties of its bark arenearly equal in value to those of the English oak.»
1867. A. G. Middleton, `Earnest,' p. 132:
«The maidens were with golden wattles crowned.»
1877. F. V. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 24:
«The generic name [Acacia] is so familiarly known, that theappellation `Wattle' might well be dispensed with. Indeed thename Acacia is in full use in works on travels and in manypopular writings for the numerous Australian species.»
1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 837:
«Called `Silver Wattle.' The bark, which is used for tanning,is said to give a light colour to leather; value, L3 10s. perton.»
1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 43:
«A dense clump of wattles, a sort of mimosa – – tall, feathery,graceful trees, with leaves like a willow and sweet-scentedyellow flowers.»
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 349:
«The ordinary name for species of the genus Acacia inthe colonies is `Wattle.' The name is an old English one, andsignifies the interlacing of boughs together to form a kind ofwicker-work. The aboriginals used them in the construction oftheir abodes, and the early colonists used to split the stemsof slender species into laths for `wattling' the walls of theirrude habitations.»
1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 122:
«It pleased him yearly to see the fluffy yellow balls bedeckhis favourite trees. One would have said in the morning thata shower of golden shot had bespangled them in the night-time.Late in the autumn, too, an adventurous wattle would sometimesput forth some semi-gilded sprays – – but sparsely, as if underprotest.»
1896. J. B. O`Hara, `Songs of the South' (Second Series),p. 22:
«Yet the spring shed blossoms around the ruin,
The pale pink hues of the wild briar rose,
The wild rose wasted by winds that blew in
The wattle bloom that the sun-god knows.»