''Acacia quadrimarginea'', commonly known as granite wattle or spreading wattle, is a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Mimosaceae. Endemic to

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 ...

, it occurs through arid south-central Western Australia. It is common on

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, but also occurs on sand and clay, and is often seen along creeklines in rocky hills. Granite wattle grows as a small tree up to six metres high, and often wider than it is high. Like most ''

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 ...

'' species, 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. These are green with a faint red margin, up to ten centimetres long, and slightly curved. The flowers are yellow, and held in cylindrical clusters. The pods are four sided and thick, up to fifteen centimetres long.

References

* * * Acacias of Western Australia quadrimarginea Fabales of Australia Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller {{Australia-rosid-stub

See also

References