Acacia gracillima

Acacia gracillima
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Clade:	Mimosoid clade
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	A. gracillima
Binomial name
Acacia gracillima Tindale

Acacia gracillima is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to north western Australia.

Description

The shrub or tree typically grows to a maximum height of 4 m (13 ft) and has dark red coloured minni ritchi style bark. It has angular branchlets with slightly hairy ridges. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The evergreen phyllodes have a linear shape that tapers slightly towards the base and can be slightly curved. The phyllodes have a length of 3.5 to 9 cm (1.4 to 3.5 in) and a width of 0.5 to 2 mm (0.020 to 0.079 in) and are covered in yellowish hairs that lie flat on the surface. They have one prominent nerve found near the dorsal margin and another two less prominent longitudinal nerves. It blooms between May and July producing golden flowers. The cylindrical flower-spikes are 2 to 4 cm (0.79 to 1.57 in) in length and densely packed with bright yellow flowers. The greenish-brown seed pods that form after flowering have a linear shape and are constricted between each seed. The villous and viscid pods are 4 to 9 cm (1.6 to 3.5 in) in length and contain longitudinally arranged seeds. The black-brown seeds have an oblong-elliptic shape with a small dark areole that is surrounded by a closed pleurogram and a pale halo.

Distribution

It is endemic to the Kimberley region in northern Western Australia mostly on and around the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges where it is often situated on rocky steep slopes and on savannah grasslands growing in rocky quartzite based soils.

See also

• List of Acacia species