''Acacia anastomosa'', also known as Carson River wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' and the subgenus ''Juliflorae'' that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to north western

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Description

The shrub typically grows to a height of and has a spindly habit. It has smooth brown coloured bark and angled

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

branchlets that are dark red when immature and age to a grey colour. Like most species of ''Acacia'' it has

phyllode Phyllodes are modified petioles or leaf stems, which are leaf-like in appearance and function. In some plants, these become flattened and widened, while the leaf itself becomes reduced or vanishes altogether. Thus the phyllode comes to serve the ...

s rather than true leaves. The evergreen phyllodes have a narrowly elliptic or occasionally obovate shape and are mostly dimidiate with straight or slightly convex lower margin. The phyllodes have a length of and a width of and possess two to four main longitudinal nerves that are mostly confluent with the lower margin at the base. It is known to bloom between April and June producing simple

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s situated on long stalks. The cylindrical flower-spikes have a length of and are densely packed with yellow coloured flowers. The

seed pod This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnify ...

s that form after flowering have a narrowly oblong to narrowly oblanceolate shape that is narrowed towards the base. The crustaceous to sub-woody pods have a length of and a width of and are straight opening elastically from the apex.

Distribution

It is native to a small area in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region 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 ...

found to the south of Kalumburu. The shrub grows on red volcanic soils as a part of open woodland communities associated with ''

Eucalyptus tectifica ''Eucalyptus tectifica'', commonly known as Darwin box, or grey box, is a species of tree that is endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, fibrous or flaky bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds usual ...

'', '' Corymbia greeniana'' and ''

Erythrophleum chlorostachys ''Erythrophleum chlorostachys'', commonly known as Cooktown ironwood, is a species of leguminous tree endemic to northern Australia. Description The Cooktown ironwood is semi-deciduous, dropping much of its foliage in response to the prolonged ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q24190032 anastomosa Acacias of Western Australia Plants described in 2013 Taxa named by Bruce Maslin Taxa named by Russell Lindsay Barrett Taxa named by Matthew David Barrett

Description

Distribution

See also

References