| Arid wattle | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Clade: | Mimosoideae |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. arida |
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia arida | |
 | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Acacia arida, commonly known as arid wattle or false melaleuca, [1] is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae native to Western Australia.
The obconic shrub typically grows to a height of 0.9 to 3 metres (3 to 10 ft). It blooms from February to March or July to August producing yellow flowers. It grows on red sandy or stony soils. [2] It has multiple slender stems arising from the base that can have a diameter of up to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) when mature. New stems sprout from subterranean runners and resprout from base after bushfires. The smooth light grey bark becomes lighter at the end of branches. It forms a soft dense crown of delicate foliage. The linear shaped phyllodes are flat, not rigid, erect, straight to shallowly incurved. Each dull light green phyllode is 2 to 8 cm (0.8 to 3.1 in) long, and 1 to 6 millimetres (0.04 to 0.24 in) and exudes a sweet fragrant smell. [1] The simple inflorescences form as spikes that are scattered over plant and are 10 to 30 mm (0.4 to 1.2 in) long and 3 to 5 mm (0.12 to 0.20 in) wide with the flowers densely arranged. Following flowering seed pods form that are Pods flat to sub-quadrangular in shape and 3 to 8 cm (1.2 to 3.1 in) in length with a width of 3 to 6 mm (0.12 to 0.24 in). The erect, woody, yellow-brown to brown pods open elastically from the apex and are often slightly hooked. [1]
The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1842 as part of William Jackson Hooker's work Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species as published in the London Journal of Botany. [3]
A. arida is closely related to Acacia orthocarpa it is also related to Acacia arrecta . A possible hybrid between A. arida and Acacia stellaticeps has been collected near Roebourne. [4]
Synonyms include; Acacia trachycarpa as described by Ernst Georg Pritzel, Racosperma aridum by Leslie Pedley and Acacia subrotata by Karel Domin. [3]
The species name is from the Latin word aridus meaning dry referring to the annotation on the type specimen saying parched desert shores of Cambridge Gulf, NW Coast when it was collected by Allan Cunningham in 1819. [1]
It is native to an area of the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia. [2] A. arida has a scattered, wide distribution within the Pilbara but generally does not dominate the vegetation. It can form dense stands on many hilltops, called sky islands, particularly in the Hamersley Range. Grows in skeletal sandy soils along shallow, ephemeral watercourses or on slopes of hills and in breakaways [1] it will also grow in red sandy loam or coarse, gravelly, skeletal sandy soils over laterite or sandstone. [4] Often a part of spinifex [1] or low, open Eucalypt woodland communities. [4]
Acacia eriopoda, commonly known as the Broome pindan wattle and the narrow-leaf pindan wattle, is a species of wattle in the legume family that is native to northern Western Australia. It is also known as Yirrakulu to the Nyangumarta people.
Acacia spondylophylla, commonly known as curry wattle or spine-leaf wattle, is a small, flat topped shrub native to central and western Australia. The leaves, which are arranged on spaced whorls around the stem, have a distinctive curry-like smell.
Acacia acradenia, commonly known as Velvet Hill wattle and silky wattle, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to northern and central Australia. The Indigenous Australian group the Nyangumarta peoples know it as walypuna the Alyawarr call it ampwey, the Jaminjung and Ngaliwurru know it as Mindiwirri, the Jaru as binbali or gundalyji, the Kaytetye as ampweye or arwele and the Warlpiri as ngardurrkura.
Acacia ancistrocarpa, commonly known as fitzroy wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. The shrub is also known as fish hook wattle, pindan wattle and shiny leaved wattle.
Acacia atkinsiana, commonly known as Atkin's wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae endemic to Australia. The indigenous peoples of the area where the shrub is found, the Kurrama peoples, know the shrub as Bilari or Pilarri.
Acacia elachantha is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to arid parts of central and northern Australia.
Acacia hamersleyensis, also known as Karijini wattle or Hamersley Range wattle, is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is endemic to a small area in central Western Australia.
Acacia hilliana, commonly known as Hill's tabletop wattle but also known as sandhill wattle and Hilltop wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to northern Australia.
Acacia incurvaneura, also known as narrow-leaf wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to central and western Australia.
Acacia levata is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to small arid area of western Australia.
Acacia orthocarpa, also commonly known as Pilbara weeping wattle, needle-leaf wattle or straight-podded wattle, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to tropical parts of northern Australia. The indigenous Nyangumarta peoples know it as yartupu.
Acacia rhodophloia, commonly known as minni ritchi or western red mulga, is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to a large area of arid central western Australia. The Indigenous group the Kurrama peoples know the plant as mantaru.
Acacia sibirica, commonly known as bastard mulga or false witchetty bush, is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to arid areas of Australia.
Acacia stipuligera is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to arid and tropical parts of northern Australia.
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 thoma is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is endemic to arid areas of western Australia.
Acacia trachycarpa, commonly known as minni ritchi, curly-bark tree, sweet-scented minni ritchi or Pilbara minni ritchi, is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia.
Acacia dictyophleba, also known as the sandhill wattle, waxy wattle and feather veined wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae. The Nyangumarta peoples know the plant as Langkur or Lungkun and the Thalanyji know it as Jabandi.
Acacia glutinosissima is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to western Australia.
Acacia rossei, also known as Yellowdine wattle, is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to south western Australia.