''Acacia colletioides'', commonly known as wait-a-while, pin bush and spine bush, is a shrub of 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 ''Plurinerves'' that is native to Australia.

Description

The rigid spreading prickly shrub typically grows to a height of . The branchlets are glabrous to sparsely haired and have scarring where phyllodes have detached. The pungent, rigid, glabrous

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 are sessile and are found on distinct, yellow stem-projections. Each phyllode has a straight to curved shape and are usually in length with a width of . It blooms in winter and spring from July to September and produces yellow flowers. Two simple inflorescences are found per

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

, the flower heads have a subglobular to ellipsoidal shape and contain 15 to 24 flowers. Each flower head is and has a diameter of . Following flowering linear coiled seed pods form that are up to a length of and wide. The shiny black seeds have an oval to ovate shape and a length of with an orange or yellow aril.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1842 as part of

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

s work ''Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species'' as published in the ''London Journal of Botany''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma colletioides'' by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006. ''A. colletioides'' is closely related to '' Acacia nyssophylla''. It is similar in appearance to '' Acacia asepala'', '' Acacia subsessilis'' and '' Acacia enterocarpa''.

Distribution

It is found in dry areas from around Geraldton on the west coast of Western Australia, through part of South Australia and north western Victoria to around

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

in New South Wales, where it is mostly a part of mallee scrub or open woodland communities. In Western Australia it is native to an area in the Wheatbelt,

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

and Goldfields-Esperance regions where it grows in a variety of soil types. In Victoria it is found in the Murray mallee, the Lowan mallee, the Murray scroll belt and the Robinvale Plains bioregions where it is found in the north-west mostly as a part of mallee scrub or open woodland communities growing in sandy loam soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9563468 colletioides Acacias of Western Australia Plants described in 1842 Taxa named by George Bentham Flora of South Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state)

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

See also

References