With its feathery bursts of fireworks-yellow flowers, the Eprapah wattle is a homegrown Redlands Coast version of Australia’s national floral emblem.
Named after Eprapah Creek and the Eprapah Conservation Reserve at Victoria Point where it was first discovered, the wattle will be celebrated by Redland City Council today on what is not only the first day of spring, but also National Wattle Day.
City Mayor Karen Williams said wattles were one of the more popular plants that Council planted in public areas across the city.
“They look and smell wonderful,” said Cr Williams who added they were also hardy plants that reflected the Aussie spirit of resilience.
“The ‘green and gold’ Eprapah wattle seems even more relevant now to Redlands Coast as we head towards being an event venue during the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Today is an ideal time for locals to consider planting a wattle in their garden.
“With the Eprapah wattle flowering between June and September, imagine the glorious display they could provide during the Brisbane 2032 Games which run from 23 July to 8 August.”
Redlands IndigiScapes Centre at Capalaba will be carrying the torch for today’s National Wattle Day with wattle corsages for people to wear, wattle displays and information brochures, and wattle-inspired specials at the café – wattleseed chais, chocolate wattleseed muffins, and finger lime and wattleseed brioche.
Tomorrow’s Eco Market at IndigiScapes will continue the green and gold theme with opportunities to discover more about the national floral emblem.
The market runs from 8am to midday, Saturday 2 September, and will include Wattle Day Association Committee Vice President Mike Gilmour talking on stage with Council’s Principal Adviser (Community Education) Stacey Thomson.
People are being encouraged to wear yellow on the market day as part of National Wattle Day celebrations.
Maree Manby, Council’s Senior Extension Officer (Environmental Education) said spring represented a great time to celebrate the beauty of our natural environment.
“This is the beginning of our spring growth and renewal reminding us of our environmental connections to the Australian landscape,” she said.
“The Eprapah wattle never fails to provide a spectacular showing of green and gold.
“We regularly plant wattles as part of Council’s Environmental Partnership’s projects and plantings, and we have an Eprapah wattle here at IndigiScapes.”
Wattle Day Association President, Dr Suzette Searle echoed Cr William’s belief in the wattle’s symbolism of the Australian spirit.
In a post on the association’s website earlier this year, Dr Searle wrote that National Wattle Day, proclaimed in 1992, represented unity.
“On the first day of spring,” she wrote, “this national day has great symbolism in its timing and the intrinsic messages of Australia’s more than 1000 wattles (Acacia species) about how to thrive in this great land – diversity, resilience, and adaptation.”
The Eprapah wattle (Acacia fimbriata var perangusta) was originally thought to be its own species but is now considered to be an extreme form of the Brisbane golden wattle, also known as the fringed wattle.
