Acacia silvestris, commonly known the Bodalla silver wattle,[1] is a tree of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Botrycephalae. It is native to an area in southeastern New South Wales and coastal Victoria.

Acacia silvestris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. silvestris
Binomial name
Acacia silvestris
Occurrence data from AVH

Description

edit

The erect to spreading tree typically grows to a height of 6 to 30 metres (20 to 98 ft)[2] and a diameter at breast height up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in). It has smooth grey bark that can have a mottled appearance. The terete branchlets are scarcely ridged and densely covered with white to grey hairs. The green leaves turn to a silvery colour as they dry. The leaves have rachis that are 6 to 14 cm (2.4 to 5.5 in) in length and contain 5 to 18 pairs of pinnae that are composed of 17 to 50 pairs of pinnules that have narrowly lanceolate shape and a length of 3 to 10.5 mm (0.12 to 0.41 in) and width of 0.7 to 1.5 mm (0.028 to 0.059 in).[3] It flowers from July to September producing yellow inflorescences in axillary or terminal panicles.[2]

Distribution

edit

A. silvestris is endemic to south-eastern Australia from around Bodalla State Forest in New South Wales in the north down to around the highlands in East Gippsland in Victoria where it is often situated on rocky hillsides alongside steep gullies, on alluvial flats and on the saddle of ridges where it grows in a range of soils over slate where it is usually part of open Eucalyptus forest communities and can form extensive forests.[3]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Acacia silvestris Tindale Bodalla Silver Wattle". Atlas of living Australia. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Acacia silvestris". Plantnet. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Acacia silvestris". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 7 March 2020.