''Acacia petraea'', commonly known as lancewood,
is a shrub or tree 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 ''Juliflorae'' that is native to north eastern
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 shrub or tree typically grows to a maximum height of around . It has grey-brown coloured and longitudinally stringy bark and angular yellow-brown to purplish brown branchlets that are lightly haired when young but later become
glabrous. 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 coriaceous and evergreen phyllodes have a linear shape and are straight to slightly curved with a length of and a width of . The phyllodes taper to a point and are inconspicuously multistriate with a barely discernible midnerve and eight to ten minor nerves per millimetre. It blooms between May and September producing golden flowers.
Taxonomy
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 ...
is in reference to the rocky habitat in which the species is found.
Distribution
It 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 parts of
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_ ...
on and around the Grey Range where it is often situated on
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 ...
scarps and ridge-tops growing in rocky soils
[ as a part of ]savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
, heath or open woodland communities. The distribution is quite fragmented with outlying populations found in the Gregory South and Warrego districts and near the border with 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 ...
.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9567953
petraea
Flora of Queensland
Taxa named by Leslie Pedley
Plants described in 1974