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''Acacia littorea'', also known as the shark tooth wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus ''
''Acacia littorea'', also known as the shark tooth wattle, 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''.
Description
The dense pungent shrub typically grows to a height of and produces yellow flowers from August to November. It hasglabrous
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 ...
but prominently ribbed branchlets. The green, pungent and somewhat crowded 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 are ascending on the branchlets. They have an interesting obtriangular to obdeltate shape resembling a sharks tooth. The phyllodes are long and and sometimes larger. The simple 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 have globular heads containing 8 to 15 pale-yellow flowers. After flowering blackish to yellowish linear to curved 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 that are around in length with a width of . The pods contain shiny brown oblong seeds arranged longitudinally which are long.
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanistBruce 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 1978 as part of the work ''Studies in the genus Acacia (Mimosaceae) – 8 A revision of the Uninerves – Triangulares, in part (the tetramerous species)'' published in the journal ''Nuytsia
''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
''.
The type specimen was collected by Bruce Maslin along the shoreline of Princess Royal Harbour
Princess Royal Harbour is a part of King George Sound on the South coast of Western Australia, and harbour to Albany. On its northern shore is the Port of Albany. The name ''Princess Royal'' also appears in Albany in Princess Royal Fortress an ...
near Albany in 1975.
Several synonyms exist: ''Acacia dolabriformis'', ''Acacia trapezoides'', ''Acacia cuneata'' var. ''glabra'', ''Acacia decipiens'' var. ''triangularis'', ''Mimosa decipiens'' and ''Acacia praemorsa''.
The species is closely related to '' Acacia truncata''.
Distribution
It is native to an area in theSouth West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, Great Southern 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 ...
. The bulk of the population is found from Busselton
Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...
east to Bremer Bay Bremer may refer to:
People
*Bremer (surname)
* Bremer Ehrler (born 1914), American politician
* Bremer (born 1997), Brazilian footballer
Places
;Australia
*Bremer Bay, Western Australia
* Bremer Marine Park
*Bremer Island
* Bremer River (disambig ...
. An isolated population is found on Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...
. ''A. littorea'' grows mostly on coastal dunes in deep sandy soils and in limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
area. It is commonly found in heath land communities and can be a dominant species.
Cultivation
''A. littorea'' is commercially available in seed form or as tubestock. It prefers a sunny position and well-drained soils and suits a coastal garden. The species isdrought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
- and frost
Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...
-tolerant. It is fast-growing but short-lived and suitable for erosion control or as a windbreak.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' speciesReferences
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9566426 littorea Acacias of Western Australia Plants described in 1978 Taxa named by Bruce Maslin