Ash

Ahh this makes sense as they seem to be growing in a definite line across the face of a hill rather than randomly around the place.

Thanks for the extra information paradox, I genuinely appreciate it. It does indeed seem like Acacia leiocalyx...it has a reddish tinge to the newer branches and the phyllodes look very similar to those shown in photos. For reference there are many of these trees found growing in hilly natural bushland near Brisbane city. There also appears to be some Queensland Silver Wattle (Acacia podalyriifolia) growing nearby. Thanks for the help!

Sorry but a link to the search page is hardly useful. I have certainly done some searching before I posted here. Its not my intention to just get the answers given to me, but rather to acquire the knowledge in order to be able to identify plants on my own. For a beginner like myself its hard to know where to start when there are so many species of acacia, many of which look almost identical to the untrained eye. I can infer some differences from the photos and descriptions of both plants I have encountered. However I'm hesitant to rely simply on what I have deduced since my knowledge is limited. I have seen pictures where maidenii leaves look longer and more slender than longifolia but I have also seen pictures where they look a lot closer. Poor quality and possibly inaccurate photos, its hard for me to tell. Also a lot of pictures of longifolia have darker flowers than the ones I have photographed which adds to my confusion. And to add to things I'm not really sure about the level of intra-strain variability in these plants. Is the phyllode size the most telling factor here? Is there some other characteristic that is also indicative?

Thanks...for future's sake, what would you say is the clearest way for me to discern between a longifolia and maidenii? Cheers

Hi there, I think I may be looking at a maidenii but I am not entirely sure...any input would be greatly appreciated! Cheers