''Acacia homalophylla'' is a small tree found in the eastern half of Australia, where it is known as the yarran. It has also been introduced into

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Description

''Acacia homalophylla'' has a clean trunk and leafy head, a dark gray, rough bark, narrow, usually straight

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

, and yellow

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s in balls. The leaves are edible and used for

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food g ...

. It usually flowers in August–October, sometimes November. It yields a gum. Its wood (called myall-wood) is durable, fragrant, and dark-colored, and used by the natives for

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

s. The tree or shrub can grow to a height of and has an erect or spreading nabit and is often suckering. It has

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 that can be slightly hairy on new growth and are angled at extremities. 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, grey-green phyllodes have a narrowly elliptic or oblanceolate or more or less linear shape and are straight to slightly curved with a length of and a width of and have many longitudinal veins that are usually obscure but occasionally with have three or more that are more prominent. The

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 occur in groups of one to three in the

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

s and have sperical flower-heads with a diameter of and contain 20 to 30 bright yellow coloured flowers. Following flowering firmly papery to thin leathery

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 form thar are straight and flat with a length of up to and a width of .

Etymology

The name probably refers to the smoothness of the

s, which are flat and often appear veinless. Bentham, when publishing this

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, used the spelling ''omalophylla'', which he corrected to 'homalophylla' in his Flora of Australiense in 1864. The former spelling is used by some

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

s and authors.

Distribution

It has a scattered distribution through

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. In New South Wales it is found to the west of

Muswellbrook Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney basin, bordering the New Englan ...

and Emmaville and is often a part of ''

Casuarina cristata ''Casuarina cristata'' is an Australian tree of the sheoak family Casuarinaceae known as belah. It is native to a band across inland eastern Australia. Taxonomy The Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel described the belah in 1848, and ...

'', Rosewood and box communities growing in brown earthy soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9565400 homalophylla Trees of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Taxa named by George Bentham Plants described in 1842

Description

Etymology

Distribution

See also

References