''Acacia crassiuscula'' 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'' found along the south coast of Western Australia.
Description
The erect and spindly shrub typically grows to a height of
[ an has glabrous branchlets. The dark green ]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 ascending to erect and have a linear shape that can be shallowly incurved. The phyllodes are in length and .[ Inflorescences are on ]raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
s that are with three to eight flower heads. Each globular heads has a diameter of and contains 13 to 20 cream coloured flowers. After flowering seed pods form that are linear with constrictions between seeds Each pod is around in length and has a width of . The semi-glossy black seeds within have an oblong to elliptic shape and a length of .[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist Heinrich Wendland Heinrich Ludolph (Ludwig) Wendland (29 April 1791, in Hanover – 15 July 1869, in Teplice) was a botanist who authored a number of ''Acacia'' species.
Heinrich Wendland was born on 29 April 1791 into a family well known in botany. His father Joha ...
in 1820 as part of the work ''Commentatio de Acaciis aphyllis'', it was reclassified as ''Racosperma crassiusculum'' in 2003 by Leslie Pedley then reverted to the genus ''Acacia'' in 2006. Several synonyms for this species are known including ''Acacia pycnophylla'' and ''Acacia sieberi''.Acacia cupularis
''Acacia cupularis'', commonly known as the Coastal Umbrella Bush, is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Phyllodineae'' that is endemic to southern parts of Australia.
Description
The glabrous and open shrub typically g ...
'' and ''Acacia harveyi
''Acacia harveyi'' is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Phyllodineae''. It is native to an area along the south coast in the Goldfields-Esperance and Great Southern regions of Western Australia
Western Australia ( ...
''. The phyllodes have the same shape and size as those of '' Acacia euthyphylla''.[
]
Distribution
It is native to an area along the south coast in the Goldfields-Esperance, Great Southern and South West regions of Western Australia where it commonly occurs among granite outcrops and hills and on sandplains where it grows in sandy or rocky soils usually over granite or quartzite.Cape Arid National Park
Cape Arid National Park is a List of national parks of Australia, national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance, Western Australia, Esperance and lies on the shore of the South coast of W ...
with other scattered outlying populations. It is often part of mallee scrub and heath communities.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9563679
crassiuscula
Acacias of Western Australia
Plants described in 1820
Taxa named by Johann Christoph Wendland