Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Natural Resource Management team staff Rachel and Megan discovered how tiny the vulnerable Tiny Wattle (Acacia baueri subsp. baueri) is while they were out in the field with visiting University of Sunshine Coast students on K’gari.

This little gem grows to 50cm high and is found on infertile sands in the wallum habitat from Burrum Coast in Queensland to just north of Botany Bay in NSW. They are easily overlooked amongst the native vegetation. But if you look closely, an identifying feature is the small down-turned curve at the end of the leaves, somewhat similar to rosemary.

The tiny yellow flowers grow in clusters with 2.5cm long seed pods. Interestingly, researchers have observed that this species grows well on K’gari on disturbed areas such as firebreaks and alongside vehicle tracks even after recent fire events.

Contributed by QPWS Natural Resource & Wongari Management team K’gari