''Acacia orbifolia'' 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 to 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 spreading bushy shrub typically grows to a height of and wide. It often has a dense domed habit and has white waxy hairy branchlets. The

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 have an obliquely orbicular to obdeltate shape with a length of and a width of with two fine, divergent, longitudinal nerves located on each face. It blooms from July to September and produces white-cream-yellow flowers. The simple inflorescences have spherical flower-heads with a diameter of with 20 to 32 densely packed white to cream coloured flowers. The seed pods that form after flowering have constrictions between the seeds and are raised over them. The pods can have one to two twisted coilsand typically have a length of around and a width of .

Distribution

It is native to an area in the

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 ...

and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia where it is found on undulating plains, low hills and

lateritic 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 ...

rises growing in gravelly clay, loam or sandy soils. The shrub has a scattered distribution from as far north as

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

with the bulk of the population being found between

Watheroo Watheroo is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. There are 137 residents, according to the . History Land in the area was settled by James Oliver in 1851, the area was surveyed in 1871 and the name Watheroo was charted fo ...

extending south to around

Muntadgin Muntadgin is a townsite off the Great Eastern Highway on Brissenden Road, situated between the towns of Bruce Rock and Southern Cross in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Muntadgin had a population of 51. Origin ...

mostly as a part of open '' Eucalyptus'' woodland communities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9567582 orbifolia Acacias of Western Australia Plants described in 1928 Taxa named by Joseph Maiden Taxa named by William Blakely

Description

Distribution

See also

References