''Acacia signata'' 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'' that is
endemic to 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 slender, straggly, weeping tree or shrub typically grows to a height of .
[ The pendulous or arching branchlets are often covered in a fine white powder. 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 evergreen phyllodes usually have a pendulous forn with a linear to linear-elliptic shape and are straight to slightly curved. The grey-green and coriaceous phyllodes have a length of and a width of and have numerous fine nerves numerous and a prominent yellow coloured pulvinus
A pulvinus (pl. ''pulvini'') is a joint-like thickening at the base of a plant leaf or leaflet that facilitates growth-independent movement. Pulvini are common, for example, in members of the bean family Fabaceae (Leguminosae) and the prayer plant ...
.[ The inflorescences occur in groups of one to four flower-spikes with a cylindrical shape. The spikes have a length of and a diameter of . The coriaceous seed pods that form after flowering have a curved to linear shape and are raised over seeds. The pods have a length of up to and have a width of and are glabrous with a powdery white coating. The glossy dark brown seeds inside are arranged longitudinally and have a compressed subdiscoid shape with a length of .][
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described in 1863 by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...
as published in the work '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae''.[
]
Distribution
It is native to an area in the Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
and north western Wheatbelt region of Western Australia where it is often situated on sandplains growing in sandy soils[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15289085
signata
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller
Plants described in 1863