Prickly acacia

Prickly acacia is a small, thorny, spreading tree generally growing to about 4–5 m high and occasionally to 10 m. It is usually single stemmed. The bark of young trees has a tinge of orange and/or green. Older trees have dark, rough bark and tend to lose most of their thorns. The green, fern-like leaves are 30–40 mm long. Each leaf is made up of 10–25 pairs of very small (3–6 mm) leaflets along its length. A pair of stout spines, 10–50 mm long, grows at the base of each group of leaves in young stems.
Fluffy round clusters of golden yellow flowers, 10 mm in diameter with 20 mm stems, occur in groups of 2–6 at the leaf base. The seed pods are grey-green, covered in fine hairs and generally 100–200 mm long. The characteristic constrictions between each seed in the seed pod is reminiscent of a strand of pearls. The deep taproot also has several branches near the surface.