''Acacia brassii'' 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 native to north eastern
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 tree typically grows to a maximum height of . It has dark brown to grey coloured bark that is longitudinally fissured. Its dark red to brown coloured branchlets are
glabrous or lightly haired and are flattened towards the apices and have scurfy ridges. 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, coriaceous and mostly glabrous phyllodes have a lanceolate or narrowly ovate shape and are narrowed at both ends. The phyllodes are flat and sickle shaped with a length of and a width of with three prominent nerves. It blooms between June and July producing golden flowers. The cylindrical flower-spikes have a length of and are covered in golden flower. The waxy, coriaceous-crustaceous
seed pods that form after flowering are linear and resemble a string of beads with a length of and have longitudinal striations. The brown coloured seeds inside are arranged longitudinally and have a depressed cylindrical shape with a length of .
Distribution
It is
endemic to the northern part of
Cape York Peninsula where it is quite common. It is found in deep sandy soils usually along creeks and rivers in scrubland communities often with ''
Melaleuca viridiflora
''Melaleuca viridiflora'', commonly known as broad-leaved paperbark, is a plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is native to woodlands, swamps and streams in monsoonal areas of northern Australia and New Guinea. It is usually a small tree wit ...
''.
[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15289923
brassii
Endemic flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Leslie Pedley
Plants described in 1974