''Acacia phlebopetala'' 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 shrub typically grows to a height of .
[ 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 evergreen, glabrous
Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...
or hairy phyllodes appear crowded on the branchlets. The rigid and pungent phyllodes have an inequilateral to shallowly triangular shape with a length of and a width of and also has a midrib near the abaxial margin.[
]
Taxonomy
There are two variations for this species:
* ''Acacia phlebopetala'' var. ''phlebopetala''
* ''Acacia phlebopetala'' var. ''pubescens''
Distribution
It is native to an area in the Great Southern 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 ...
where it is commonly situated on rocky cliffs, along watercourses, on sandplains and on coastal cliffs and dunes growing in sandy or loamy or clay soils often over or around limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, 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 ...
or quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
.Beaufort Inlet
Beaufort Inlet also locally known as Pallinup Estuary is an inlet located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia about east of Albany.
The inlet functions mostly as a result of wave energy and is a wave dominated estuary.
The estu ...
in the west to around Munglinup
Munglinup is a small town located in the Shire of Ravensthorpe in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia.
The town lies on the South Coast Highway between Ravensthorpe and Esperance and close to the Munglinup River. The river ...
in the east, the bulk of the population being found in Fitzgerald River National Park
Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in the Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Jerramungup in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is recognised on Australia's National Heritage List for its outstanding diversity of native ...
with an isolated population between Lake King
Lake King is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth along State Route 40 between Kelmscott and Ravensthorpe. As of 2016, the town had a population of 95. The 2011 census recorded both the population of the tow ...
and Newdegate to the north west.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15288252
phlebopetala
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin
Plants described in 1978