''Acacia oswaldii'', commonly known as boree, umbrella wattle, umbrella bush, whyacka, middia, miljee, nella and curly yarran, is a shrub or tree of 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 ''Plurinerves''.

Description

The shrub or tree typically grows to a height of and can be found to . It has

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff/ref> This is us ...

and glabrous branchlets with many red, resinous micro-hairs.

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 are spreading to erect with leaves that are linear, narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong-elliptic shape that is straight to recurved, terete to flat, in length and wide. Leaves are hairy when young, becoming hairless, edges smooth, with a straight often sharp point. It blooms from October to December and produces yellow flowers. The simple

inflorescences An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

forms singly or in pairs in the axil of the phyllodes supported on hairy peduncles that are long. The flowers are heads globose holding 5 to 16-flowers that are in diameter. Seed pods form later that are curved or coiled and mostly flat except where raised over seeds. The leathery to woody pods are long and wide. Seeds can be collected from March to May and sown from November to February and will germinated in 3 to 10 weeks. ''A. oswaldii'' can also be grown from cuttings.

Distribution

It is native to an area in the central and southern regions of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, south west

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, western

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, northern

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

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 ...

. The distribution is wide but scattered throughout arid, semi-arid and subtropical areas in all states on the mainland, occurring mainly in calcareous sands or loamy soils.

Classification

The species was initially described by the botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in 1863 in the journal '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae''. Several synonyms are known including ''Racosperma oswaldii'', ''Acacia sessiliceps'', ''Acacia amaliae'' var. ''amaliae'', ''Acacia osswaldi'', ''Acacia amaliae'', ''Acacia oswaldi'' var. ''abbreviata'' and ''Acacia amaliae'' var. ''orthophylla''. The name honours Ferdinand Oswald, who was involved with the collection of the type specimen. The type specimen was collected by von Mueller in 1851 near

Blanchetown Blanchetown is a small township in South Australia, on the (west) bank of the Murray River, northeast of Adelaide. The Blanchetown Bridge is the westernmost (and farthest downstream) of the four crossings of the Sturt Highway over the Murray Ri ...

on the Murray River.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9567627 oswaldii Acacias of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Fabales of Australia Plants described in 1863 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller

Description

Distribution

Classification

See also

References