''Acacia dawsonii'', also known as Dawson's wattle or poverty wattle or mitta wattle,
is a shrub 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'' found along parts of the east coast of
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 erect shrub typically grows to a height of , with appressed branchlets that are hairy between resinous ridges.
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 phyllodes are straight to slightly curved with a very narrowly elliptic to linear shape and a length of and a width of with up to ten longitudinal veins of which one or two are usually more prominent that the others.
It produces golden yellow flowers that are globular in shape and are found on short racemes from the leaf axils in springtime.
Taxonomy
It was first described in 1897 by
Richard Baker.
Distribution
It is native to an area down the east coast from as far north as south east
Queensland,
New South Wales and north east
Victoria in the south.
Found in open woodland and forests along the slopes and tableland areas. It is not widely cultivated but is quite hardy and suitable for a wide range of climates.
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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=Q9563885
dawsonii
Flora of Victoria (state)
Flora of New South Wales
Taxa named by Richard Thomas Baker
Plants described in 1897
Flora of Queensland