''Acacia retinervis'' 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 ''Juliflorae'' endemic to northern 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 tree or shrub typically grows to a height of . It has fissured brown to grey-brown bark with resinous, scurfy, rusty-brown new shoots that occasionally have a dense covering of silver hairs with glabrous to sparsely haired, terete, light brown to reddish coloured branchlets. Like many 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. It has sickle shaped, glabrous to sometimes sericeous phyllodes falcate with a length of and a width of and have three to five prominent longitudinal veins surrounded by minor veins that are almost touching each other. It blooms from April to September producing yellow flowers.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1842 as part of

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

s work ''Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species'' as published in the ''London Journal of Botany''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma retinerve'' by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.

Distribution

It is native to a large area in the

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 ...

region of Western Australia where it grows among sandstone or

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 ...

. It is situated on the mainland extending from the coast south to the Mitchell Plateau and the catchment area of the

Prince Regent River The Prince Regent River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The headwaters of the river rise in the Caroline Range near Mount Agnes then flow in a north westerly direction. The river enters and flows through the Prince Reg ...

where it is usually found among outcrops of sandstone rock.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9568570 retinervis Acacias of Western Australia Plants described in 1842 Taxa named by George Bentham

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

See also

References