''Acacia williamsiana'' 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 native to 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 tall tree with a spreading to erect habit
and typically grows to a height of and has angular and
glabrous branchlets that can be covered in a fine white powdery coating. 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. On juvenile plants the phyllodes have a broadly elliptic to obovate shape with a length of and a width of . As the plant matures the pale-green to grey green phyllodes have a more oblanceolate, narrowly elliptic or linear shape and are in length and . The generally
glabrous phyllodes have many longitudinal nerves that are closely parallel with three to five nerves that are more prominent than the others.
[ It flowers between September and December][ and produces simple inflorescences form cylindrical flower-spikes with pale yellow flowers. After flowering linear to moniliform seed pods form that are in length and wide that are wrinkled and curved. The black to dark brown seeds inside are arranged longitudinally and have an ellipsoid shape.]
Taxonomy
The specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
honours John Beaumont Williams who was a botanist and teacher who had worked at New England University in Armidale and first noticed the distinctiveness of this species.[
]
Distribution
It is endemic to south eastern Queensland and north eastern New South Wales and has a disjunct distribution. In New South Wales it is found in a radius centred around Glen Innes out to around Ashford Ashford may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Ashford, New South Wales
*Ashford, South Australia
*Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia
Ireland
*Ashford, County Wicklow
*Ashford Castle, County Galway
United Kingdom
* Ashford, Kent, a town
** ...
in the west and to around Torrington in the north and in areas around Ballandean in southern Queensland. It is often situated around granite outcrops as a part of woodland and low shrubland communities.[
]
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15289342
williamsiana
Flora of Queensland
Flora of New South Wales
Plants described in 1997