''Acacia kerryana'' 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 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 low spreading domed shrub typically grows to a height of .
[ It has flexuose branchlets that are slightly ribbed and usually lightly covered with stiff sharp hairs. The evergreen, glabrous, sessile ]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 have a length of and a diameter of and eight equal raised nerves.[ The simple inflorescences occur in pairs or in groups of 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. The obloid to cylindrically shaped flower-heads have a length of and a diameter of with a subdense packing of light golden flowers. The twisted, linear, chartaceous
This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...
seed pods that form after flowering have a length of and a width of .[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist Bruce Maslin in 1982 as part of the work ''Studies in the genus Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). Two new species from the eastern goldfields, Western Australia'' as published in the journal '' Nuytsia''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma kerryanum'' by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.
Distribution
It is native to an area in the southern Goldfields region of Western Australia where it is found on plains and low rocky ridges growing in granitic loamy sands or clay sand soils.Norseman
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
in the south where it is usually found as a part of low open shrubland communities.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9565855
kerryana
Acacias of Western Australia
Plants described in 1982
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin