''Acacia mooreana'' 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 erect, slender and pungent shrub typically grows to a height of .
[ It has glabrous to sparsely haired and yellow-ribbed branchlets. Like most species of ''Acacis'' 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 pungent and g;abrous, evergreen phyllodes have an inequilateral and obtriangular shape that are in length and a width of with a midrib near the abaxial margin.[ It blooms from May to September and produces yellow-cream flowers.][
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist William Vincent Fitzgerald in 1904 in the work ''Additions to the West Australian Flora'' as published in the ''Journal of the West Australian Natural History Society''. It was reclassified by Leslie Pedley
Leslie Pedley (19 May 1930 – 27 November 2018)IPNILeslie Pedley/ref> was an Australian botanist who specialised in the genus ''Acacia''. He is notable for bringing into use the generic name ''Racosperma'', creating a split in the genus, which r ...
in 2003 as ''Racosperma mooreanum'' then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.
Distribution
It is native to an area along the south coast in the South 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 ...
and Great Southern 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 along drainage lines or in swampy areas growing in sandy soils often over and around laterite
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
.Yallingup
Yallingup is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, south of Perth. Yallingup is a popular tourist destination because of its beaches and limestone caves, and proximity to Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park.
History and industry
Y ...
in the west to Boyanup in the north down to August
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
in the south west to around Nannup in the south east where it is usually found as a part of ''Eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
'' forest communities.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287869
mooreana
''Mooreana'' is an Indomalayan genus of spread-winged skippers in the family Hesperiidae
Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were ...
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by William Vincent Fitzgerald
Plants described in 1904