''Acacia macdonnelliensis'', commonly known as the MacDonnell mulga or the Hill mulga, is a species of ''
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 ...
'' native to central
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 ...
.
The Indigenous Australians the
Alyawarr
The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...
peoples know the plant as ', the
Kaytetye know it as ' or ' and the Western
Arrernte people
The Arrernte () people, sometimes referred to as the Aranda, Arunta or Arrarnta, are a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the Arrernte lands, at ''Mparntwe'' (Alice Springs) and surrounding areas of the Central Australia regi ...
s know it as '.
Taxonomy
There are two
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
:
*''Acacia macdonnelliensis'' subsp. ''macdonnelliensis''
*''Acacia macdonnelliensis'' subsp. ''teretifolia''
Maslin
Description
This bushy shrub or tree typically grows tall and has deeply fissured grey bark.
[ It has sparsely hoary to glabrous branchlets with obscure, resinous ridges. It has erect, glabrous to hoary, grey-green ]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 with a narrow elliptic to linear shape that are in length and wide.[ It produces yellow flowers in July.][
]
Distribution and habitat
''Acacia macdonelliensis'' is found in southern parts of the Northern Territory around Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
and in far eastern Pilbara and north eastern Goldfields regions of Western Australia. It grows in areas of sandstone and quartzite along rocky ridges and creeklines.[ ''A. macdonnelliensis'' is drought and frost tolerant.][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287722
macdonnelliensis
Fabales of Australia
Plants described in 1978