''Acacia pyrifolia'', commonly known as ranji bush
[ is a ]shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
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 the north 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 ...
.
Description
The bush or tree typically grows to a maximum height of and has smooth grey bark on the main stem and branched with more yellowish coloured bark on the upper branches. It can have an open an straggly a sometimes dense habit. The 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 ...
branchlets are often covered in a fine white powdery coating and have spinose stipule
In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...
s. 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 blue-grey to grey-green pungent and coriaceous phyllodes usually have an elliptic to obovate or orbicular shape with a length of and a width of and have a prominent and central midrib.[ It produces rounded yellow flowerheads between April and August in the species' native range.]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 occur along a long raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
with showy, spherical flower-heads that are densely packed with 70 to 80 bright golden coloured flowers. Following flowering shallowly curved to openly once-coiled 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 that have a narrowly oblong shape and are rounded over seeds. The firmly chartaceous pods are up to in length and wide and contain dull dark brown coloured seeds with a broadly elliptic to ovate shape.[
]
Taxonomy
It was first formally described in 1825 by Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle
Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candol ...
in the second volume of his publication ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis''.Acacia strongylophylla
''Acacia strongylophylla'', commonly known as round-leaf wattle, is a shrub of the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Phyllodineae'' endemic to central Australia.
Description
The erect, glabrous, spinescent and straggly shrub typically grows to ...
'' and '' Acacia marramamba'' and A. strongylophylla which make up the ''Acacia pyrifolia'' group which is closely allied to the ''Acacia victoriae
''Acacia victoriae'', commonly known as gundabluie or bardi bush, is a shrub-like tree native to Australia.
Subspecies:
''A. victoriae'' subsp. ''arida'' Pedley
Distribution and ecology
Found in arid and semi-arid areas, the ''Acacia victoria ...
'' group.[
]
Distribution
The plant is found in 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 ...
, Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, a ...
and northern parts of the Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
regions of Western Australia where it is situated along watercourses, on plains and lower slopes and along road-sides growing in sand or loamy clay or alluvial sand or skeletal soils often over or around sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
.[ Its range extends from around Carnarvon in the west to around Meektharra in the south to Rudall River National Park in the east and Wallal Downs in the north. It is also found near ]Windjana Gorge
Windjana Gorge is a gorge in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located within the Windjana Gorge National Park.
The gorge was formed by the Lennard River having eroded away a section of the Napier Range. The range was formed over ...
to around Halls Creek
Halls is a plural of the word hall.
Halls may also refer to:
People
* Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician
* Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress
* Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player
* ...
in the southern part of the Kimberley.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4670998
pyrifolia
Acacias of Western Australia
Fabales of Australia
Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle
Plants described in 1825