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''Acacia drepanophylla'' is a tree 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
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to western
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 height of with fissured, fibrous grey bark. It blooms from May to July producing yellow flowers. The tree oftan has an obconical form with
glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...
branchlets and pale-citron-sericeius new shoots. The falcate, linear, widely spreading
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 length of and a width of . The glabrous phyllodes are not rigid and acuminate to a delicate tip and finely striated with a prominent central nerve. The rudimentary
inflorescence 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 o ...
s rudimentary occur in pairs of flower spikes that are in length and a diameter of composed of pale yellow flowers. The glabrous, flat, linear
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 are slightly constricted between the seeds. the pods are up to in length and wide and firmly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous. The dull grey to brown seeds found in the pods have a compressed spherical shape with a diameter of .


Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist
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 1983 as part of the work ''Studies in the genus Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) New taxa from north-west Western Australia'' 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 ...
''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma drepanophyllum'' by
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 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006. The tree is closely related to ''
Acacia oldfieldii ''Acacia oldfieldii'' is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Juliflorae'' that is endemic to western Australia. Description The bushy shrub typically grows to a height of . It has glabrous branchlets and has citron golde ...
'' which is found in nearby areas, it is also related to ''
Acacia acuminata ''Acacia acuminata'', known as mangart and jam, is a tree in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs throughout the south west of the State. It is common in the Wheatbelt, and also extends into the semi-arid interior. De ...
'' which is found much further to the south.


Distribution

It is native to an area in the
Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...
region 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 ...
from around Carnarvon and
Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...
where is found on flat plains, undulating plains and low rises growing in read loam or clay soils over
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
. The bulk of the population is situated between Yaringa Station in the north to Wannoo in the south. It is common within this area and sometimes dominates, growing in thickets, it is usually a part of ''Acacia'' scrub and shrubland communities.


See also

* List of ''Acacia'' species


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15289488 drepanophylla Acacias of Western Australia Plants described in 1983 Taxa named by Bruce Maslin