''Acacia subcontorta'' 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 ''Juliflorae'' that is
endemic to central and central 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 shrub or trees usually has multiple stems and typically grows to a height of with a rounded and spreading crown that is across and becomes sparser with age. The trunks appear contorted and have a diameter of around at
breast height and with the contorted looking main branches spreading more or less horizontally. The thin grey coloured bark has a fibrous texture and is longitudinally fissured along the main branches and trunks. The terete and
glabrous branchlets have obscure ribbing and are a light brown colour at the extremities. 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, moderately coriaceous to sub-rigid phyllodes have a linear to narrowly elliptic shape with a length of and a width of with many fine parallel longitudinal nerves.
Distribution
It is native to a large area in the
Pilbara and northern
Goldfields regions of
Western Australia where its distribution is scattered and its range extends from around north west of
Wiluna in the south then eastwards into the
Gibson Desert
The Gibson Desert is a large desert in Western Australia, largely in an almost "pristine" state. It is about in size, making it the fifth largest desert in Australia, after the Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami and Simpson deserts. The ...
. In the north it is found on
Balfour Downs and
Ethel Creek Station
Ethel Creek Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station.
It is located about north east of Newman and south of Nullagine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It had about double frontage to the Fortescue River and ...
s as well as in the
Hamersley Range. The species shares much of the range of ''
Acacia thoma
''Acacia thoma'' is a shrub belonging to the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Juliflorae'' that is endemic to arid areas of western Australia.
Description
The multi-stemmed and obconic shrub crowns sparse to sub-dense and typically grows to a ...
''. It is often situated on gently undulating plains and stony hardpan plains with skeletal shallow red-brown loamy soils mixed with
ironstone pebbles and cobbles as a part of open Mulga woodland communities, sometimes with a
spinifex understorey.
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]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17438910
subcontorta
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin
Plants described in 2008