| Horse mulga | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A. ramulosa habit | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Clade: | Mimosoideae |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. ramulosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia ramulosa | |
 | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Acacia ramulosa, commonly known as horse mulga [1] [2] or bowgada wattle, [3] is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae endemic to arid areas of Australia.
A. ramulosa is an erect, spreading and multi-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of 1.5 to 6 metres (5 to 20 ft). [1] The ribbed glabrescent branchlets have small white hairs between the ribs, the resinous young tips are darker in colour. The phyllode bases can have resinous ribs with some red-glandular hairs. The erect, thick and linear phyllodes are usually 7 to 15 centimetres (3 to 6 in) in length and 5.5 to 7 millimetres (0.217 to 0.276 in) in width. The phyllodes are striate with thick longitudinal nerves. [4] It blooms irregularly throughout the year producing yellow flowers, [1] flowers usually appear in cooler weather often after rainfall events. [5] The simple inflorescences usually appear singly in the axils. The dense golden flower-spikes are 5 to 30 mm (0.20 to 1.18 in) in length. The straight cylindrical seed pods that form following flowering are tapered at each end are up to 13.5 cm (5 in) in length with a diameter of 8 to 10 mm (0.31 to 0.39 in). The pods hang downwards from the branchlets usually in groups resembling a horse's tail. The pods are grey in colour and have longitudinal brown stripes. [5] The creamy coloured seeds within the pod have an oblong shape and are 6 to 12 mm (0.24 to 0.47 in) long and 4 to 9 mm (0.16 to 0.35 in). [4]
The type specimen was collected by the botanist William Vincent Fitzgerald in 1903 in the area between Cue and Mount Magnet. [4] The species was first formally described by Fitzgerald in 1904 as part of the work Additions to the West Australian Flora as published in the Journal of the West Australian Natural History Society. It was reclassified in 1987 by Leslie Pedley as Racosperma ramulosum and then transferred back to the genus Acacia in 2001. [6]
The species name is taken from the Latin word ramulosus meaning many branchlets in reference the habit of the shrub. [7]
A. ramulosa has two variants: Acacia ramulosa var. linophylla [8] and Acacia ramulosa var. ramulosa. [9] It can form hybrids with Acacia aneura mostly in the western part of its range. These have been identified as Acacia brachystachya or Acacia cibaria . It can also hybridize with Acacia craspedocarpa and Acacia coolgardiensis . [4]
A ramulosa is native to a large area of arid parts of Australia. It is found in southern Queensland, western New South Wales, the southern parts of the Northern Territory, northern and central South Australia and the Goldfields and the Mid West regions of Western Australia, often occurring in red sandy [1] and loamy sandy soils in swales. It is also found on shallow stony soils among with outcrops of laterite and can form dominant stands on the southern and eastern ends of its range. [4]
A ramulosa is an integral part of Mulga woodland communities and is often associated with Acacia aneura , Acacia pruinocarpa , Acacia quadrimarginea , Eucalyptus loxophleba , Acacia brachystachya , Casuarina cristata , Corymbia opaca , Eragrostis eriopoda , Aristida contorta , Salsola kali , Rhagodia spinescens , tussock grass and Chenopod shrubs. [10]
The plant is suitable as an ornamental or for providing habitat in coastal cliff areas or on sand plains. It can be grown in a full sun or partly shaded position in alkaline or neutral sandy or loamy soils. The shrub can tolerate drought, soil salinity, salt spray and bushfire. [2]
Indigenous Australians used the seed as food source, [5] it was prepared in different ways. The young green pods were eaten raw or roasted or steamed. The dry mature seeds could also be ground into a flour then mixed with water and eaten as a paste or cooked as a damper. [11]
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. Specific regions have been designated the Western Australian mulga shrublands in Western Australia and Mulga Lands in Queensland.
Acacia brachystachya, commonly known as umbrella mulga, turpentine mulga or false bowgada, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. The species occurs in mulga and heath communities on sandhills and rocky ridges in all mainland states of Australia, except Victoria.
Acacia craspedocarpa, commonly known as hop mulga or the broad-leaved mulga, is a shrub or tree in the family Fabaceae native to central parts of western Australia.
Acacia kempeana, commonly known as wanderrie wattle, witchetty bush or granite wattle, is a shrub in subfamily Mimosoideae of family Fabaceae that is endemic to arid parts of central and western Australia.
Acacia ramulosa var. linophylla, commonly known as bowgada, wanderry mulga, horse mulga or sometimes wanyu, is a subspecies of the tree species Acacia ramulosa, with which it shares several common names. While the parent species is found throughout arid Australia, this subspecies is much more restricted, being found only on loose red sand in south central Western Australia and sporadically in South Australia. The species was formally named Acacia linophylla until 2001, when it was recognised as a variety of Acacia ramulosa.
Acacia ayersiana is a plant that grows in arid areas of Australia.
Acacia aciphylla is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to the Mid West region of Western Australia.
Acacia aptaneura, commonly known as slender mulga, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to central and western parts of Australia.
Acacia clelandii, also known as umbrella mulga, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to arid parts of central Australia.
Acacia fuscaneura, commonly known as sooty wattle, is a tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to arid areas of central Australia.
Acacia incognita, also known as false sugar brother, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to Western Australia.
Acacia minyura is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae endemic to arid parts of central Australia.
Acacia mulganeura, commonly known as milky mulga and hilltop mulga, is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to arid parts of central and western Australia.
Acacia paraneura, commonly known as weeping mulga, is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to arid regions of Australia. The Indigenous Kurrama peoples know the tree as warlun.
Acacia tenuissima, commonly known as narrow-leaved wattle, broom wattle, minyana, slender mulga or slender wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae endemic to temperate and tropical areas of Australia. Indigenous Australians the Kurrama peoples know the plant as Janangungu and the Banyjima know it as Murruthurru.
Acacia wanyu, commonly known as wanyu or silver-leaf mulga, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to arid parts of western Australia. The Kurrama people know it as Murruturu or Yirritiri while the Nyangumarta people know it as Wayartany.
Acacia calcicola is a shrub or tree of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is native to parts of central Australia. Common names for this species include; shrubby wattle, shrubby mulga, myall-gidgee, northern myall and grey myall. Indigenous Australians the Pitjantjatjara peoples know the tree as ikatuka, the Warlpiri know it as jirlarti and the Arrernte know it as irrakwetye.
Acacia oswaldii, commonly known as boree, umbrella wattle, umbrella bush, whyacka, middia, miljee, nella and curly yarran, is a shrub or tree of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves.
Acacia rhetinocarpa, commonly known as neat wattle or resin wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae native to southern Australia. It was listed as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in 2013.
Acacia barakulensis, commonly known as waajie wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to north eastern Australia.