About Acacia redolens Maslin
Acacia redolens Maslin is a dense, small to medium-sized spreading fragrant shrub. It typically grows 0.5 to 3 meters (2 to 10 ft) tall, rarely reaching heights of up to 5 or even 7 meters. Vegetative parts of the plant, and especially its yellow flowers, produce an intense vanilla scent. In its native range, it blooms from August to October and produces yellow flowers. In California, it blooms from February through May (late winter to late spring). The small flowers, whose visual appearance comes from yellow stamens, are borne in leaf axils. The brownish legumes produced by the shrub are approximately 25 millimeters long and 6 millimeters wide. This species is native to coastal areas of the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia. It grows naturally on the edges of salt lakes or in salty depressions, and thrives in salty or alkaline loamy, clayey, clayey-loamy, or sandy soils. It can withstand frost temperatures as low as −7 °C, and can be used as a groundcover. The species was planted as a fast-growing groundcover along freeways in California, and is now commonly found throughout Southern California and parts of the Bay Area, where it is considered an invasive weed. It is especially problematic in the San Gabriel Valley and Mission Valley, and is commonly planted along freeways.
