''Acacia incrassata'' 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 ''Phyllodineae'' 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 south 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 pungent shrub typically grows to a height of .
[ It is able to spread by subterranean runners. The prominently ribbed branchlets have soft silky hairs that are usually sparsely distributed and mostly found on the ribs. The branchlets also have indurate to spinose ]stipule
In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...
s that are in length. 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 pungent and shiny 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 ...
phyllodes are inequilateral often with an obtriangular to obdeltate shape and with a length of and a width of and a prominent midrib near the abaxial margin.[
]
Distribution
It is native to an area along the west coast in the Wheatbelt and Peel regions 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 ...
where they are often situated in lateritic
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
soils.Mount Lesueur
Mount Lesueur is a near-circular, flat-topped mesa located from Jurien Bay in Western Australia. It rises above the surrounding lateritic plain of Lesueur National Park which has eroded away around it.
Mount Lesueur was first sighted and nam ...
in the north down to around Kalamunda in the south and also from around Serpentine
Serpentine may refer to:
Shapes
* Serpentine shape, a shape resembling a serpent
* Serpentine curve, a mathematical curve
* Serpentine, a type of riding figure
Science and nature
* Serpentine subgroup, a group of minerals
* Serpentinite, a ...
and Watheroo
Watheroo is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. There are 137 residents, according to the .
History
Land in the area was settled by James Oliver in 1851, the area was surveyed in 1871 and the name Watheroo was charted fo ...
where it is found in loamy soils in as a part of ''Eucalyptus wandoo
''Eucalyptus wandoo'', commonly known as wandoo, dooto, warrnt or wornt, is a small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of nine to sev ...
'' woodlands or loamy gravelly soils in low heath communities.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9565554
incrassata
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker
Plants described in 1841