About Acacia leprosa Sieber ex DC.
Acacia leprosa Sieber ex DC., commonly called cinnamon wattle, is an Acacia species native to Australia. It grows in woodlands in Tasmania, New South Wales, and Victoria, and grows as a hardy shrub or small tree. Its modified leaf-like structures called phyllodes, which form from an expanded petiole that replaces the original leaf blade, are 3 to 14 centimetres long and contain oil glands. Its lemon-yellow flowers grow as globular heads in clusters in the leaf axils, and it produces flat seed pods as fruit. Four varieties are currently recognized within the species: A. leprosa var. crassipoda Maslin & D.J.Murphy, with its type locality in the Pyrenees Range, Victoria; A. leprosa var. graveolens Maslin & D.J.Murphy, formerly the southern variant of Acacia verniciflua, with its type locality at Gippsland Lakes; the autonym A. leprosa Sieber ex DC. var. leprosa; A. leprosa var. magna Maslin & D.J.Murphy, with its type locality at Cape Otway, Victoria; and A. leprosa var. uninervia Maslin & D.J.Murphy, formerly the large phyllode variant of A. leprosa, with its type locality near Healesville, Victoria. Several former varieties of Acacia leprosa have been reclassified: A. leprosa var. binervis F.Muell. is now included within Acacia verniciflua; A. leprosa var. tenuifolia Benth., also known as the Seymour variant of A. leprosa, is also currently included in Acacia verniciflua; and the Dandenong Range variant of A. leprosa, which was referred to as A. leprosa var. elongata Guilf. [nomen invalidum] or A. leprosa var. Reclinata, is currently classified as the separate species Acacia stictophylla. The cultivar Acacia leprosa 'Scarlet Blaze' is the only Australian wattle with red inflorescences; all other Australian wattles have yellow or cream-coloured flowers, with the exception of Acacia purpureapetala, which has purple flowers. This cultivar was discovered northeast of Melbourne in 1995, and released for commercial sale in 2001. Acacia leprosa was mentioned in the 19 June 1880 issue of The Australasian Sketcher, in the second part of an article about the Mallee Country. It was listed as one of the "beautiful shrubs" found in the region and identified by Mr Guilfoyle, who was director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens at the time. For cultivation, this species prefers a well-drained location that receives full sun or light shade. It can be propagated from pretreated seeds or from cuttings.
