''Acacia pilligaensis'', commonly known as Pillaga wattle or pinbush wattle,
is a tree or 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'' native to 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 tree or shrub typically grows to a height of and has an erect to spreading habit with finely fissured grey bark. It has resinous angled branchlets that are
glabrous or sparsely hairy. 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 phyllodes are flat and straight to slightly curved with a length of and a width of and are mostly glabrous but can be sparsely hairy near the base. It blooms between August and October producing simple
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
s that occur singly or in pairs in the
axil
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...
s that have spherical flower-heads with a diameter of and contain 20 to 30 bright yellow flowers. After flowering firmly papery and glabrous
seed pod
This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnify ...
s form, they are more or less straight and flat except over the seeds. The pods have a length of and a width of and are slightly resinous with the seeds inside arranged longitudinally.
[ The dark brown seeds within have an oblong shape and a length of .][
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist Joseph Maiden
Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...
in 1920 as part of the work ''Notes on Acacias, with descriptions of new species'' published in the ''Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma pilligaense'' in 2003 by Leslie Pedley
Leslie Pedley (19 May 1930 – 27 November 2018)IPNILeslie Pedley/ref> was an Australian botanist who specialised in the genus ''Acacia''. He is notable for bringing into use the generic name ''Racosperma'', creating a split in the genus, which r ...
and transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006. It is often confused with ''Acacia burbidgeae
''Acacia burbidgeae'', commonly known as Burbidge's wattle, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Phyllodineae'' that is endemic to parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
Description
The shrub has an erect to ...
''.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 derived from the Pillaga scrub locale from where the type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
was collected.[
]
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 and has a disjunct distribution in north eastern 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 ...
and south 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_ ...
where it is found in Pillaga scrubland to around Gulgong and the Goonoo State Forest in the south where it is found in sandy soils as a part of dry sclerophyll forest
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...
communities.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15288374
pilligaensis
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Queensland
Plants described in 1920
Taxa named by Joseph Maiden