''Acacia aemula'' is a shrub belonging to the genus ''
Acacia'' and subgenus ''Alatae''. It is native to an area along the south coast of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
Description
The shrub is
prostrate to semi-prostrate, open branched and rush-like that typically grows to a height of . It produces white-cream flowers from May to June
[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist Bruce Maslin
Bruce Roger Maslin (born 3 May 1946) is an Australian botanist, known for his work on ''Acacia'' taxonomy.
Born in Bridgetown, Western Australia, he obtained an honours degree in botany from the University of Western Australia in 1967, then to ...
in 1995 in the work ''Acacia Miscellany 13. Taxonomy of some Western Australian phyllocladinous and aphyllodinous taxa (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae)'' as published in the journal ''Nuytsia
''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
''. It was later reclassified as ''Racosperma aemulum'' by Leslie Pedley
Leslie Pedley (19 May 1930 – 27 November 2018)IPNILeslie Pedley/ref> was an Australian botanist who specialised in the genus ''Acacia''. He is notable for bringing into use the generic name ''Racosperma'', creating a split in the genus, which r ...
in 2003 then returned to the genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.[
Two subspecies are recognized :
*''Acacia aemula'' subsp. ''aemula''
*''Acacia aemula'' subsp. ''muricata'']
Distribution
It is found along the south coast of Western Australia in the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions extending from around Albany east to Cape Arid National Park where it grows among granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
outcrops and flats near creeks in sandy soils.[
]
See also
* List of Acacia species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9561930
aemula
Acacias of Western Australia
Plants described in 1995
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin