Description

Sandplain wattle grows as a tall

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or small tree typically to a height of but can grow as tall as . It is able to form suckers and form dense colonies. It has glabrous branchlets that are often covered in a fine white powdery coating giving it frosted appearance. Like most ''

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 ...

'' species, 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. They are grey or pale green, with a length of and a width of . The glabrous and thinly coriaceous phyllodes have a linear to narrowly elliptic shape but are occasionally oblanceolate and have a minute, callous and curved

mucro A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

. The phyllodes midrib is not prominent and it has obscure lateral nerves that are longitudinally anastomosing. In Western Australia it blooms between August and November but it can flower as late as January in other places and produce profuse flower displays a seed crops in favourable conditions. The flowers are bright yellow, and held in cylindrical clusters up to eight millimetres in diameter. The spherical flower-heads are composed of 25 to 50 densely packed golden to light golden coloured flowers. The pods are flat and papery with a length of and a width of up to . In Australia, its main flowering period is from August to November (this varies upon specific geographic) with pods maturing several months later (November-January). During favorable seasons, plants flower profusely and produce heavy pod crops. The species most closely resembles '' A. pachyacra'' which has a similar range. The most obvious way to distinguish them is that ''A. pachyacra'' phyllodes (leaves) are much narrower.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1864 as part of the work '' Flora Australiensis''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma murrayanum'' in 1987 by Leslie Pedley then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006. ''A. murrayana'' resembles ''

Acacia dietrichiana ''Acacia dietrichiana'', commonly known as Dietrich wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Phyllodineae'' that is endemic to Queensland. Description The sparingly branched tree can grow to a height of and has re ...

'' but belongs to the ''A. murrayana'' group of wattles along with '' Acacia gelasina'', '' Acacia praelongata'', '' Acacia pachyacra'' and '' Acacia subrigida''. This group of wattles is allied with the '' Acacia victoriae'' and '' Acacia juncifolia'' groups. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

honours Dr James Patrick Murray who was the collector of the type specimen as he travelled on Howitt's Expedition to Cooper Creek as the surgeon in 1862.

Distribution

It is widespread throughout

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 ...

's arid zone, occurring on sand ridges and in disturbed areas. In Western Australia it has a scattered distribution throughout the Pilbara,

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, northern Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions where it is commonly situated on sandplains, sand dunes and along creek-lines growing in sandy soils. The range of the tree extends from around

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

and

North West Cape North West Cape is a peninsula in the north-west of Western Australia. Cape Range runs down the spine of the peninsula and Ningaloo Reef runs along the western edge. It is in the Gascoyne region and includes the town of Exmouth. History In 1618, ...

in the west to the east through northern South Australia and the interior of the Northern Territory to the western edge of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

around

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

in Queensland and Narrabri in New South Wales where it is usually part of mulga or spinifex communities.

Uses

Most ''Acacia'' seeds are highly nutritious with an established history of traditional use by Aboriginal Australians. Because of this, ''Acacia'' species have been explored as a neglected and underutilized crop that could be used to improve food security in developing countries. ''A. murrayana'' has been suggested to be one of the most promising species for this purpose. Seeds contain around 26% protein, 26% carbohydrate, 32% fiber, and 9% fat and have a low glycemic index. Seeds and gum of the plant is a food source for Central Australian Aboriginae. Seeds can be ground to make a flour that can be used as a flavoring in desserts, a nutritious supplement in breads and pastries, or for a caffeine-free coffee alternative. The bark of all ''Acacia'' species are high in tannins, making them useful for dyeing.

Gallery

CSIRO ScienceImage 1774 Acacia murrayana Seed Pod.jpg Acacia murrayana flowers.jpg Acacia murrayana fruit.jpg

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

Uses

Gallery

See also

References

External links