''Acacia maxwellii'' 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 low domed shrub typically grows to a height of .
[ It has hairy branchlets with subpersistent long stipules. 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 thick, glabrous and evergreen phyllodes are erect with a linear shape that is straight to shallowly curved. The phyllodes have a length of and a width of and an impressed midrib.[ It blooms from September to October and produces yellow-cream flowers.][
]
Distribution
It is native to an area along the south coast in the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance 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 it is commonly situated on flats, undulating plains and along watercourses growing in sandy, sandy clay, loamy or gravelly soils.Stirling Range
The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...
in the north west to around Israelite Bay
Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia.
Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...
where it is usually a part of shrub mallee and mallee heath communities.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287775
maxwellii
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Joseph Maiden
Taxa named by William Blakely
Plants described in 1928