''Acacia tessellata'' is a shrub or tree 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 ''Plurinerves'' 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 a small area 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 tall shrub or small tree typically grows to a height of and has mottled grey to light brown coloured bark that is hard and tessellated with angled and prominently ridged
glabrous branchlets.
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 glabrous and evergreen phyllodes have a linear to narrowly elliptic shape and are more or less straight with a length of and a width of with a prominent midvein and two to ten less prominent longitudinal veins. It blooms between January and February 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 that occur singly or in groups of up to three 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 with spherical flower-heads with a diameter of containing 25 to 36 very pale yellow coloured flowers. Following flowering leathery and 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 flat and straight a little raised over each of the seeds and are in length and wide.
[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by the botanists Mary Tindale
Mary Douglas Tindale (19 September 1920 – 31 March 2011) was an Australian botanist specialising in pteridology (ferns) and the genera ''Acacia'' and ''Glycine''.
Tindale was born in Randwick, New South Wales, the only child of George Harold Ti ...
and Peter Kodela in 1991 as a part of the work ''Acacia tesellata, A. cangaiensis and A. dangarensis (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae), three new species from Northern New South Wales, Australia'' as published in the journal '' Australian Systematic Botany''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma tessellatum'' in 2003 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 ...
then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.
Description
It is found in the north east of 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 ...
from the North Coast to the edge for the Northern Tablelandssclerophyll forest
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...
or scrubland and along the margins of cool-temperate rainforests with a range that extends from around Werrikimbe National Park in the south where it is quite common on Mount Boss and Mount Banda Banda[ to ]Washpool National Park
The Washpool National Park is a protected national park located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The park is situated approximately north of Sydney, inland from . The park has two campgrounds and is managed by the NSW N ...
in the north.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15289217
tessellata
Taxa named by Mary Tindale
Flora of New South Wales
Endemic flora of Australia
Plants described in 1991