''Acacia redolens'', commonly known as bank catclaw, prostrate acacia, or desert carpet,
is a shrub of 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 ''Plurinerves''.
Description
It is a dense, small to medium-sized shrub that usually reaches heights of 0.5 to 3, rarely up to 5 or even 7 meters. Vegetative parts of the plant and especially the yellow flowers give off an intense vanilla scent. The spreading fragrant shrub typically grows to a height of .
It blooms from August to October in its native range, and produces yellow flowers. The small flowers, whose optical effect is based on the yellow
stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s, are located in the leaf
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. The brownish
legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...
s are about 25 millimeters long and about 6 millimeters wide.
In
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, it blooms from February through May (late winter to late spring). It is commonly planted by freeways and is found throughout Southern California and some parts of the Bay Area.
Phylogeny
According to the
Catalogue of Life
The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic Info ...
, ''Acacia'' contains 1067 species. A 2014 phylogenetic study of ''Acacia'' in Australia suggests the following phylogenetic relationships:
Distribution
It is native to an area along the southern coast 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 ...
.
The plant is considered an invasive weed in areas of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
where it was used as a fast growing groundcover along freeways. It is particularly problematic in the
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...
and
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Missi ...
.
[
''Acacia redolens'' thrives on salty or ]alkaline
In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...
loamy, clayey, clayey-loamy or sandy soils and can be used as a groundcover
Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought.
In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...
. It occurs on the edges of salt lakes or in salty depressions and can withstand frost down to −7 °C.
See also
*
*
* List of Acacia species
Several Cladistics, cladistic analyses have shown that the genus ''Acacia sensu lato, Acacia'' is not monophyletic. While the subg. ''Acacia'' and subg. ''Phyllodinae'' are monophyletic, subg. ''Aculeiferum'' is not. This subgenus consists of thr ...
External links
Atlas of Living Australia
CalFlora
Encyclopedia of Life
FloraBase
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
iNaturalist
Invasive.Org
Jepson eFlora
PlantNet
USDA National Resources Conservation Service
Useful Temperate Plants
World Wide Wattle
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2510405
redolens
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin
Plants described in 1974