''Acacia epacantha'' 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 ''Pulchellae'' 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 an area in the south west 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 dense bushy spiny shrub typically grows to a height of and has a spreading habit with branchlets that have axillary long spines that around found singly on each node. The single pair of

pinnae The auricle or auricula is the visible part of the ear that is outside the head. It is also called the pinna (Latin for "wing" or " fin", plural pinnae), a term that is used more in zoology. Structure The diagram shows the shape and location ...

have a length of and have two pairs of

pinnule A leaflet (occasionally called foliole) in botany is a leaf-like part of a compound leaf. Though it resembles an entire leaf, a leaflet is not borne on a main plant stem or branch, as a leaf is, but rather on a petiole or a branch of the leaf. Co ...

s with a length of and a width of . It blooms from July to August and produces yellow flowers. It is closely related to

Acacia fagonioides ''Acacia fagonioides'' is a shrub of the genus '' Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Pulchellae'' that is endemic to an area of south western Australia. Description The spinescent shrub typically grows to a height of with hairy, intricate branchlets ...

, and they are the members of Acacia pulchella group.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist

Bruce Maslin Bruce Roger Maslin (born 3 May 1946) is an Australian botanist, known for his work on ''Acacia'' taxonomy. Born in Bridgetown, Western Australia, he obtained an honours degree in botany from the University of Western Australia in 1967, then to ...

in 1979 as a part of the work ''Studies in the genus Acacia (Mimosaceae) - 9 Additional notes on the Series Pulchellae Benth.'' as published in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma epacanthum'' 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.

Distribution

It is native to an area on the west coast in the Wheatbelt region 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 is commonly found growing in gravelly

lateritic Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

loam or clay soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9564454 epacantha Endemic flora of Southwest Australia Acacias of Western Australia Taxa named by Bruce Maslin Plants described in 1979

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

See also

References