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''Acacia rubida'', commonly known as red stem wattle, red stemmed wattle or red leaved wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus ''
''Acacia rubida'', commonly known as red stem wattle, red stemmed wattle or red leaved wattle, is a 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 ''Phyllodineae'' that is native to parts of eastern 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 shrub or tree has an erect to bushy habit and typically grows to a height of and has lightly fissured brown bark. It has narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate shaped reddish to grey-green leatheryphyllode
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 that have a length of and a width of . The juvenile foliage is pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...
and can persist on older plants. It blooms between July and November producing 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 with pale to bright yellow 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 are found in groups of 5 to 29 in an axillary 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 ...
s with an axis that is in length. The spherical flower-heads have a diameter of and contain 9 to 15 pale to bright yellow coloured flowers. Following flowering firmly papery to thin leathery, glabrous 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 are straight and flat with a length of and are wide and are often covered in a powdery white coating.
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by thebotanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
Allan Cunningham in 1825 in the work ''On the Botany of the Blue Mountains. Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales''. The only synonym is ''Racosperma rubidum''. It is also often confused with '' Acacia amoena''
Distribution
It is found in southwestern parts ofQueensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, western New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
on the tablelands of the Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...
. It is often a part of open woodland or dry sclerophyll forest communities and grows on rocky hilltops and slopes in rocky soils and in alluvial soils along rivers and creeks. The bulk of the population is found between the Black Range
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
in northeast Victoria in the south up to near Stanthorpe
Stanthorpe is a rural town and locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Stanthorpe had a population of 5,406 people.
The area surrounding the town is known as the Granite Belt.
Geography
Stanthorpe lies on the New ...
in south-eastern Queensland.
Cultivation
The shrub is sold commercially in tubestock or in seed form. It is noted as a good pioneer species being fast-growing, hardy, cold tolerant and beneficial as anitrogen fixing
Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen (), with a strong triple covalent bond, in the Atmosphere of Earth, air is converted into ammonia () or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but al ...
plant. It can grow nutrient-poor, shallow, skeletal, high altitude soils and plays a valuable role in catchment protection within its native range. It prefers a sunny position, requires little maintenance, is drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
tolerant and can tolerate temporary inundations.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' speciesReferences
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9568796 rubida Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (Australia) Plants described in 1825 Taxa named by Allan Cunningham (botanist)