''Acacia fecunda'', commonly known as Mosquito Creek wattle,
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
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 north 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 erect, obconic shrub typically grows to a height of with grey bark on the trunk that lightens to yellow-brown on upper branches.
[ It usually has two to four main stems with a diameter of at the base. The crown is open and spreads to a width of around . It has terete and slender branchlets that are finely ribbed and densely covered in fine what hairs. 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 dull, green to blue-green coloured phyllodes have a narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate shape and can be straight or shallowly sickly shaped with a length of and a width of . The glabrous or slightly hairy phyllodes are coriaceous and often slightly resinous with fine parallel longitudinal nerves.[ The plant blooms between May and August producing yellow flowers.][
]
Distribution
It is native to an area in the Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
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 ...
.Oakover River
The Oakover River is a river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The headwaters of the river rise north of the Wadara Range and west of the Saltbush range near Junction Well then flows in a northerly direction. The river continues nort ...
and Davis River meet to the east of Nullagine in rocky areas composed of Mosquito Creek sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
s.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17438720
fecunda
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin
Plants described in 2008