''Acacia brownii'', commonly known as heath wattle, is an erect or spreading
shrub which 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 else ...
to eastern
Australia.
Description
It typically grows to a height in height and has
glabrous
Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...
to sparsely haired branchlets with subulate
stipule
In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...
s that around high. Like most ''Acacias'' it has phyllodes instead of true leaves, the
rigid,
terete
Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff/ref> This is u ...
phyllodes that are in length and wide. The globular yellow flowerheads with a diameter of and containing 12 to 30 flowers appear singly in the leaf axils from August to November. Following flowering curved flat,
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 long and wide.
[
]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1813 as ''Acacia acicularis'', but that name had already been applied to a different species. In 1817 Poiret Poiret is a French language surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Jean Poiret, French author
* Jean Louis Georges Poiret, former Lieutenant-Governor of Guinea
*Jean Louis Marie Poiret, French clergyman, botanist, and explorer
* Jeanne ...
published ''Mimosa brownei'' as a replacement name. The current name was published by botanist Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel
Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel (30 May 1783 – 12 May 1856) was a German physician and an authority on grasses.
Biography
Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel was born at Esslingen am Neckar in Baden-Württemberg.
He was educated at the University of Tübing ...
in 1821 as part of the work ''Phanerogams. Nomenclator Botanicus'', citing Brown's species, but not Poiret's. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma brownii'' 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 ...
in 1987 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006. Other synonyms include; ''Acacia acicularis'' , ''Acacia pugioniformis'' , ''Mimosa brownei'', ''Acacia brownei'' and ''Acacia ulicifolia'' var. ''brownii''.
It is similar in appearance and closely related to ''Acacia ulicifolia
''Acacia ulicifolia'', commonly known as prickly Moses or juniper wattle is a shrub of the genus '' Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Phyllodineae'', native to Australia.
Description
''Acacia ulicifolia'' is decumbent to an erect shrub high, with ...
'', of which it was once thought to have been a variety.
Distribution
The species occurs on sandy or clay loam in dry sclerophyll 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 ...
, woodland or heath in southern and eastern Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, 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 ...
and Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
.[ It is found throughout the Great Dividing Range from around the ]Grampians
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampian rang ...
in Victoria in the south through New South Wales and up to around Burra Burri in Queensland.
See also
* List of ''Acacia'' species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2715188
brownii
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Queensland
Flora of Victoria (state)
Fabales of Australia
Plants described in 1821