''Acacia atrox'', commonly known as Myall Creek 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 ''Phyllodineae'' that is
endemic to a small area in
New South Wales.
Description
The shrub has a dense and multi-branched habit and typically grows to a height of and is able to spread and create thickets by suckering. The light green sessile
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 have a quadrangular shape and have a yellow nerve at apex of each angle. The phyllodes have a length of and a width of . The rudimentary
inflorescences are found on one or two branched racemes with an axes that has a length of . The spherical flower-heads globular have a diameter of and contain 17 to 22 flowers.
[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist Phillip Kodela in 2001 as part of the work ''Acacia atrox (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae)'', a new rare species from the North Western Slopes, New South Wales'' as published in the journal '' Telopea. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma atrox'' by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to the genus ''Acacia'' in 2011.
Distribution
It has a limited distribution around the Inverell area in the north western slopes of New South Wales where it is found on slopes and low hills growing in clay soils over basalt, on basalt in cleared areas or as part of open well grassed ''Eucalyptus'' woodland communities.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9562431
atrox
Flora of New South Wales
Plants described in 2001