Acacia leiocalyx (a-KAY-she-a)
Common Names: Black Wattle, Early Black Wattle, Early Flowering Black Wattle, Lamb’s Tail Wattle, curracabah
Derivation of the name:
Acacia: from Greek ‘acis’, a thorn.
leiocalyx: From the Greek ‘leios’ meaning ‘smooth’ and ‘kalyx’ meaning ‘a cup’. The name refers to the smooth calyx or outer covering of the bud.
A. leiocalyx is most closely related to Acacia concurrens, but the differences between the two species are subtle. In A. leiocalyx the small branches are smooth, sharply angular and usually red-brown, the pulvinus is short and red, and the calyx is hairless, or almost so. A. concurrens, on the other hand, has stouter, angular branchlets which are scaly and usually not distinctly reddish, a long grey-green pulvinus, and calyces with a few stiff short hairs towards their base