Acacia retrorsa
| Acacia retrorsa | |
|---|---|
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. retrorsa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia retrorsa | |
| |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Acacia retrorsa is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to western Australia
Description
[edit]The spreading prostrate shrub typically grows to a height of 0.05 to 0.5 metres (0 to 2 ft)[1] with a sprawling habit. The multistemmed shrub has quite slender branches with a length of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) It has glabrous or slightly hairy, green coloured branchlets that have fine yellow-coloured ribbing. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The sessile and evergreen phyllodes are pointing backwards. The pungent, green and glabrous have a linear shape and are straight to shallowly curved with a length of 15 to 25 mm (0.59 to 0.98 in) and a width of 1 to 2 mm (0.039 to 0.079 in) with a prominent midrib.[2] It blooms from August to September and produces yellow flowers.[1] The inflorescences occur on single headed racemes and have spherical flower-heads containing 16 to 24 light golden coloured flowers. The glarous, firmly chartaceous and dark brown seed pods that form after flowering resemble a string of beads and have a length of up to 6 cm (2.4 in) and a width of 3.5 to 4.5 mm (0.14 to 0.18 in). The blackish seeds have a yellow centre and have an oblong to elliptic shape with a length of about 4 mm (0.16 in) and have a club-shaped aril.[2]
Taxonomy
[edit]The species was first formally described by the botanist Carl Meissner in 1855 as part of the work Botanische Zeitung . It was reclassified as Racosperma retrorsum by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006.[3] It is thought to be allied to the Acacia pravifolia group and superficially resembles Acaca declinata.[2]
Distribution
[edit]It is native to an area in the Wheatbelt and Mid West regions of Western Australia where it is found growing in gravelly, sandy or loamy soils over or around laterite.[1] It has a very limited range between Jurien Bay in the north down to around Eneabba in the south where it is usually as a part of low open woodland or low open heathland communities.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Acacia retrorsa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b c d "Acacia retrorsa". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "Acacia retrorsa Meisn". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 5 August 2020.