''Acacia echinuliflora'' 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 native to northern
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 black coloured bark that is fibrous and shaggy. It has resinous, terete, reddish brown coloured branchlets. 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, thinly coriaceous and
glabrous phyllodes have a narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate shape and are straight or slightly curved. The flat, shiny phyllodes have a length of and a width of wide with a prominent midrib and two secondary nerves. It blooms between June and August producing golden flowers.
The cylindrical flower-spikes occur singly or in pairs in the axils and have a length of with bright yellow to golden flowers. Following flowering straw-coloured and resinous
seed pods form that have a linear to oblong shape and are straight to undulate and raised over seeds alternately on each side with a length of . The brown or black seeds inside are arranged transversely and have an obloid or ellipsoidal shape.
[
]
Distribution
It is endemic to the Northern Territory where it is commonly found along the escarpments in the western portion of Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
in the north and down to Nitmiluk National Park in the south where it grows in sandy soils that are part of creeks and streams that are responsible for draining the escarpment.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9564362
echinuliflora
Flora of the Northern Territory
Plants described in 1994