''Acacia applanata'', also known as golden grass wattle
or grass wattle,
is a grasslike shrub belonging to the genus ''
Acacia'' and subgenus ''Alatae''. It is native to the south west 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 erect or sometimes sprawling and typically grows to a height of .
[ The stems are suckering and can spread.][ It has few phyllodes which are continuous with branchlets and form opposite wings with each one extending to the next beneath. The glabrous dark greenwings are in width. The free portion of each phyllode usually has a length of .][ It produces yellow flowers between July and October in winter and spring.][ Each ]inflorescences
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 ...
has one to four globular heads containing 10 to 20 golden flowers. Following flowering curved flat 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 with a length of around and a width of form. The pods contain oblong to elliptic seeds that are in length.[
]
Taxonomy
The species was originally described by 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 as part of 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 ...
''.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 but classified back into the genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.[ Other synonyms include; ''Acacia diptera'', ''Acacia diptera'' var. ''angustior'', ''Acacia benthamii'' var. ''angustior'' and ''Acacia diptera'' var. ''eriocarpa''.][
The species name ''applanata'' is taken from the ]Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''applanatus'', which means ''flattened'' or ''horizontally expanded'' referring to the nature of the phyllodes.Acacia willdenowiana
''Acacia willdenowiana'' is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Acacia''. The plant is also commonly known as wattle grass, grass wattle or two-winged acacia. It is native to the south west of Western Australia.
Description
The shrub has erect and ...
'' was considered to be the same species as ''A. applanata''.[
]
Distribution
It has a scattered distribution from the west coast in the Wheatbelt region south through the Peel, South West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
and east into the Great Southern region.[ Found as far north as Jurien and south to Albany it is usually part of open woodland, woodland and forest communities and sometimes occasionally in areas of shrubland. Often in found in winter wet depressions growing in sandy and loam lateritic soils.][
]
Cultivation
The species is commercially available in seed form. The seeds need to be treated with hot water prior to planting.[ It requires well-drained soils a position in part to full sun.]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15289428
applanata
Acacias of Western Australia
Plants described in 1995
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin