''Acacia gonoclada'', also known as ganambureng, is a tree or 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 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 spindly tree or shrub typically grows to a height of . It has smooth, red-brown or grey coloured bark and angular olive-green to brown 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 flat phyllodes have an elliptic or oblanceolate shape with a length of and a width of . They are narrowed and curved upwards toward the base and have two or three obvious main veins. It blooms from May to September producing yellow flowers. The cylindrical flower-spikes occur singly or in pairs and are found in terminal panicles and have a length of with bright yellow flowers. The flat and linear seed pods that form after flowering are clustered in the upper axils. The thin, glabrous and resinous pods are slightly constricted between seeds and have a length of and taper toward the base and apex. The black seeds inside are arranged longitudinally and have an oblong to broadly elliptic shape with a length of and have an open narrow areole.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in 1859 as part of the work ''Contributiones ad Acaciarum Australiae Cognitionem'' as published in the ''Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma gonocladum'' by Leslie Pedley in 1987 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2001.

Distribution

It is native to an area in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of Western Australia across the top end of the Northern Territory and central Queensland. It is found in tropical areas and grows in shallow stony soils and loamy soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287158 gonoclada Acacias of Western Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Plants described in 1859

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

See also

References