The Cootamundra Wattle

The cootamundra wattle the commonest of trees They sucker all around the place and multiply like bees In scrubland and steep gullies, in paddocks brown and bare And in urban parks and gardens, you see them everywhere. 'Acacia Baileyana' their species Latin name And botanists and arboriculturist and other tree experts claim That though native to Australia they grow too easily And that they outgrow and outcompete rarer breeds of native tree. On frosty August morning the paddock looking gray But cootamundra wattle help brighten up the day They bloom when growth is dormant on Winter's coldest hours The cootamundra wattle laden with yellow flowers. Once indigenous to Cootamundra till introduced down south And the wattles then took over and found their way about They can grow on the poorest soils resistant to disease The cootamundra wattle is the hardiest of trees. On coldest days of Winter great beauty they display But a weed in their own Country the experts on trees say The cootamundra wattles you see them everywhere In urban parks and gardens and paddocks brown and bare.