The Golden Wattle (Australia's Floral Emblem)

We spotted the first signs of Wattle growing in the bush today:


"Acacia pycnantha" enjoyed popular acceptance as Australia's national flower for much of this century but it was not proclaimed as the national floral emblem until 1988, the year of Australia's bicentenary. 
A ceremony was held on 1 September 1988 at the Australian National Botanic Gardens when the Minister for Home Affairs, Robert Ray, made the formal announcement, and the Prime Minister's wife, Mrs Hazel Hawke, planted a Golden Wattle.  
Four years later, in 1992, the 1 September was formally declared 'National Wattle Day' by the Minister for the Environment, Mrs Ros Kelly at another ceremony at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and was signed by the Governor General, Bill Haydon, on 23 June 1992.

The specimen from which it was named was collected in 1836 in the interior of New South Wales by the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, Thomas Mitchell, who led two exploratory expeditions to the Darling and Murray River systems. The British botanist, George Bentham (1800-1884) described the species in 1842. (Wikipedia)