Cylops Acacia (Acacia cyclops)

Acacia cyclops, commonly known as coastal wattle, cyclops wattle, one-eyed wattle, red-eyed wattle, redwreath acacia, western coastal wattle, rooikrans, rooikans acacia, is a coastal shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae. Native to Australia, it is distributed along the west coast of Western Australia as far north as Jurien Bay, and along the south coast into South Australia.

It is found in locations exposed to coastal winds, red-eyed wattle grows as a dense, dome-shaped shrub; this helps protect against salt spray, sand-blast, and erosion of soil at the roots. When sheltered from the wind, it tends to grow as a small tree typically to a height of 0.8 to 4 m (2 ft 7 to 13 ft 1 in) but can reach as high as 8 m (26 ft). Like many other Acacia species, red-eyed wattle has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The phyllodes range from four to eight centimeters long, and from six to twelve millimeters wide. Its flower heads are bright yellow spherical clusters. Very few flower heads are produced at a time, but flowering occurs over a long period, from early spring to late summer, between September and May. This is unusual for Acacia species, which normally flower in one brief but impressive display.

The green seedpods may be used as a natural soap, by crushing them and using the pods with water to wash with.

Indigenous Australians grind the seeds into a flour to make damper, the seeds are a good source of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. The seeds pods are also crushed while still green to make an insect repellent and sunscreen that is also used to treat eczema. The pods can also be used to make a soap solution. The edible gum exuded from the trunk can be used as chewing gum or to make a glue. The wood is used to make a variety of tools and the rotten wood is a good source of witchetty grubs.