Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’ (Purple Fernleaf Acacia)

This evergreen shrub or small tree is a purple-leaved cultivar of a species native to a small area around Cootamundra and Temora in New South Wales, Australia. Its fern-like foliage emerges purple before maturing to silvery blue-gray. Rounded clusters of fragrant golden-yellow flowers appear in winter and spring in temperate climates. The cultivar can reach about 20 feet tall and has received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Outside its native area, the species has naturalized and become invasive in parts of Australia, including Victoria and Western Australia. Photographed in Bogotá, Colombia.