Acacia areolata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the Northern Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with curved phyllodes, racemes of one or two spikes of yellow flowers in axils, and narrowly oblong to oblong pods up to 75 mm (3.0 in) long.
| Acacia areolata | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. areolata
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| Binomial name | |
| Acacia areolata | |
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editAcacia areolata is a spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 2–4 m (6 ft 7 in – 13 ft 1 in), sometimes up to 8 m (26 ft) or rarely, prostrate. Its bark is grey-brown and fissured, the branchlets glabrous and rusty-brown. The phyllodes are usually straight, dimidiately elliptic to narrowly elliptic or egg-shaped, 60–120 mm (2.4–4.7 in) long, 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) wide and glabrous, green or covered with a white, powdery bloom. The flowers are arranged in one or two spikes 20–45 mm (0.79–1.77 in) long with densely arranged yellow flowers. Flowering mostly occurs in June, and the fruit is a straight, narrowly oblong to oblong pod 25–75 mm (0.98–2.95 in) long and 9–15 mm (0.35–0.59 in) wide, containing compressed, broadly elliptic black seeds 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) long.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy
editAcacia areolata was first formally described in 2003 by Maurice W. McDonald in Australian Systematic Botany from specimens collected near the Carson Escarpment.[5] The specific epithet (areolata) means areolate, meaning marked out into small, usually angular spaces[6] between the minor veins on the phyllodes.[7]
Distribution and habitat
editThis species of wattle is native to an area of the Kimberley region of Western Australia, its range extending from around Cape Londonderry in the north down to around the Carson Escarpment, in the south in the Northern Kimberley bioregion of Western Australia. It usually grows in lateritic based or sandstone based soils in open woodland communities.[3][4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Acacia areolata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ Maslin, Bruce R.; McDonald, Maurice W. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia areolata". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Acacia areolata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b "Acacia areolata". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Acacia areolata". APNI. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ Stearn, William T. (1992). Botanical Latin. Portland Oregon: Timber Press. p. 371.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780958034180.