''Acacia latzii'', also known as Latz's wattle and Tjilpi wattle,
[ is a shrubby tree][ of 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 ...
'' (in the family and the subgenus ''Plurinerves'').[ It is native to the ]Finke bioregion
Finke, an interim Australian bioregion, comprises , and is part of two state/territories of Australia: the Northern Territory and South Australia. (in the south of the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
and the north of South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
).[
]
Description
''A. latzii'' is a shrub or tree which grows to a height of . The branchlets may be smooth or have a sparse covering of minute flat lying hairs. The phyllodes ( long by wide) are narrowly linear and generally with a shallow incurving. They are leathery and a khaki to greyish green and like the branchlets may be smooth or have a sparse covering of fine hairs. They have many closely parallel veins. The inflorescences are two to five headed racemes with the raceme axes being long. The flower stalks are 5–9 mm long and have a covering of fine hairs. The heads are globular ( in diameter) with 13 to 18 flowers. The flowers are 5-merous and the sepals are free. The smooth, leathery pods are up to long. The dull, brown-black, oblong seeds are in length.
Habitat
It is found growing in skeletal alkaline soil in gullies and on minor hill slopes.
Conservation status
It has been declared "vulnerable" under both Commonwealth and Northern Territory legislation.Buffel Grass
''Cenchrus ciliaris'' (buffel-grass or African foxtail grass; syn. ''Pennisetum ciliare'' (L.) Link) is a species of grass native to most of Africa, southern Asia (east to India), southern Iran, and the extreme south of Europe (Sicily). Other na ...
invasion;
*seedling loss from browsing and trampling by cattle and feral herbivores;
*vulnerable to decline due its small population and its fragmented distribution;
*altered rainfall patterns (due to climate change) which may affect adult survivorship and decrease the rare recruitment events.[
]
Taxonomy
It was first described by Bruce Maslin
Bruce Roger Maslin (born 3 May 1946) is an Australian botanist, known for his work on ''Acacia'' taxonomy.
Born in Bridgetown, Western Australia, he obtained an honours degree in botany from the University of Western Australia in 1967, then to ...
in 1980[ and named ''A. latzii'' to honour Peter Latz whose "fine" collections
were the basis of Maslin's descriptions.][ An isotype, CANB 267113.1, was collected by Latz in the Beddome Range, New Crown Station, on 21 April 1977][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287549
latzii
Flora of South Australia
Flora of the Northern Territory
Plants described in 1980
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin