''Acacia thoma'' 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
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 arid areas of 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 multi-stemmed and obconic shrub crowns sparse to sub-dense and typically grows to a height of with a width of . Bark on the upper branches is smooth and grey but becomes rough and longitudinally fissured at the base.
It has light green new shoots with rudimentary caducous
stipules that are resinous but not sticky. 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 dull green to grey green, coriaceous, sub-rigid and erect phyllodes have a narrowly linear to narrowly elliptic shape and a length of and a width of . They are flat and straight to shallowly incurved with many parallel longitudinal fine nerves.
[
]
Taxonomy
The plant is named for Emil Thoma, a Botanical Advisor with Rio Tinto Iron Ore, who assisted Maslin and provided samples and information on the species.[
]
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 ...
, Goldfields
Goldfield or Goldfields may refer to:
Places
* Goldfield, Arizona, the former name of Youngberg, Arizona, a populated place in the United States
* Goldfield, Colorado, a community in the United States
* Goldfield, Iowa, a city in the United Sta ...
and Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
regions of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
where it has aLeinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...
in the south extending out to around Mount Nossiter in the Little Sandy Desert
The Little Sandy Desert (LSD) is a desert region in the state of Western Australia, lying to the east of the Pilbara and north of the Gascoyne regions. It is part of the Western Desert cultural region, and was declared an interim Australian ...
in the eastern edge of its range. It is often situated on ridges and rocky slopes near the base of ranges composed of banded ironstone growing in skeletal soils as a part of open shrubland communities where it is usually associated with ''Acacia aneura
''Acacia aneura'', commonly known as mulga or true mulga, is a shrub or small tree native to arid outback areas of Australia. It is the dominant tree in the habitat to which it gives its name ( mulga) that occurs across much of inland Australia. ...
'', '' Acacia sibirica'' and '' Eremophila jucunda''.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17438903
thoma
Acacias of Western Australia
Taxa named by Bruce Maslin
Plants described in 2008