''Acacia spinescens'', commonly known as spiny 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 ''Alatae''. It is native to
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 ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
and
Victoria.
Description
The erect multi-branched shrub typically grows to a height of around .
The rigid terete branchlets are green and spiny with yellow rib striations. The usually will have few or no leaves with sometimes remaining at the base of the plant. The leaves have a curved or hooked shape with a prominent mid-vein. It flowers between July and October producing a solitary flower-spike solitary with bright yellow, globular flower-heads. It will later form dark brown seed pods with a curving and often twisted linear shape. Each pod is around in length with a width of . Pods contain hard, dark brown seeds with an ovoid shape. Each seed is around long and wide.
[
]
Classification
The species name is taken from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
words ''spina'' meaning thorn or spine and ''escens'' meaning beginning. The name refers to the branches ending with a sharp point or spine.[ The species was named by George Bentham in 1842 as part of the ]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 ...
work ''Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species'' published in the London Journal of Botany.
Distribution
The species is found in a variety of soil types and ecological communities and associates with other plant species. In South Australia it is found in southern parts extending from the Great Victoria Desert
The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia.
History
In 1875, British-born Australian explorer Ernest Giles became the first European to cross th ...
in the west through to the border with Victoria in the east . It is also found on Kangaroo Island.[ In Victoria the plant is only found in eastern areas in the mallee and goldfields regions extending north into south-western parts of New South Wales.][
]
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 ...
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9569367
spinescens
Flora of South Australia
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Victoria (Australia)
Plants described in 1842