''Acacia robiniae'', commonly known as Robin's wattle,
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 ''Phyllodineae'' 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 south 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 pungent shrub typically grows to a height of
[ and has an open and spreading habit with sparely pilose and hairy branchlet with pungent stipules that are in length. 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 pungent, glabrous and evergreen phyllodes have an obtriangular to obdeltate to shallowly obtriangular shape that are contiguous with the branchlet. The phyllodes have a length of and a width of and have a midrib near the abaxial margin.[ It blooms from April to September and produces white-cream flowers.][ The 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 occur singly 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 and have spherical flower-heads containing two white to off-white coloured flowers. Following flowering coriaceous to crustaceous d+seed pods form that have a narrowly oblong shape and are shallowly curved. The glabrous pods have a length up to and a width of and have thick margins. The glossy dark brown coloured seeds inside have an oblong shape and a length of with a terminal aril
An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...
.[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanist Bruce Maslin
Bruce Roger Maslin (born 3 May 1946) is an Australian botanist, known for his work on ''Acacia'' taxonomy.
Born in Bridgetown, Western Australia, he obtained an honours degree in botany from the University of Western Australia in 1967, then to ...
as part of the work ''Studies in the genus Acacia - A revision of the Uninerves - Triangulares, in part (the tetramerous species)'' as published in the journal ''Nuytsia
''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...
''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma robiniae'' 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 ...
in 2003 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.[
]
Distribution
It has a discontinuous distribution and is native to an area 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 ...
where it is commonly situated in damp areas, among granite boulders or on lateritic rises growing in sandy or loamy soils over 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 ...
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 ...
.Mount Manypeaks
Mount Manypeaks is a distinctive peak located approximately north-east of Albany, north-east of Two Peoples Bay and south-east of the town of Manypeaks, in Western Australia. Mount Manypeaks Nature Reserve lies to the south of the peak, e ...
and another population is found around Mount Arid, much further to the east.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15288666
robiniae
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin
Plants described in 1978