Acacia awestoniana

Last updated

Stirling Range wattle
Acacia awestoniana.jpg
Status DECF R.svg
Declared rare  (DEC) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. awestoniana
Binomial name
Acacia awestoniana
Acacia awestonianaDistMap90.png
Acacia awestoniana occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium [4]
Synonyms [3]
  • Acacia aff. dictyoneura[P2] (A.S.Weston 9708)
  • Acacia awestonii Pedley orth. var.
  • Racosperma awestonianum(R.S.Cowan & Maslin) Pedley
  • Racosperma awestonianum(R.S.Cowan & Maslin) Pedley isonym
  • Racosperma awestoniiPedley orth. var.

Acacia awestoniana, commonly known as the Stirling Range wattle, [5] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a restricted area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading, sticky shrub with wavy, widely elliptic to elliptic, phyllodes, spherical heads of golden-yellow flowers, and narrowly oblong pods up to 22 mm (0.87 in) long.

Contents

Description

Acacia awestoniana is a spreading, sticky shrub that typically grows to a height of 2.4–3 m (7 ft 10 in – 9 ft 10 in) and a width of up to 4 m (13 ft). Its phyllodes are wavy, widely elliptic to elliptic, 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in) long and 11–22 mm (0.43–0.87 in) wide, leathery and glabrous with three to six main veins. The flowers are borne in up to three racemes of spherical heads on a glabrous peduncle 12–20 mm (0.47–0.79 in) long, each head 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) in diameter with 54 to 60 golden-yellow flowers. Flowering occurs vrom September to November and the pods are narrowly oblong, up to 22 mm (0.87 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide containing oblong, glossy brown seeds about 4 mm (0.16 in) long. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Taxonomy

Acacia awestoniana was first formally described in 1990 by Richard Sumner Cowan and Bruce Maslin in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected on the west side of Chester Pass Road at the northern boundary of Stirling Range National Park. [7] [10] The specific epithet (awestoniana) honours Arthur W. Weston, "collector of most of the material known of the species and a most enthusiastic and knowledgeable field botanist in Western Australia". [7]

Distribution and habitat

Stirling Range wattle is confined an area near the northern bounday of the Stirling Range National Park where it grows in wandoo woodland or along watercourses. [11] The plant is found on the lower slopes, on flats and along watercourses and grows in loamy or sandy clay loamy soils. [6] [7]

Conservation status″

Acacia awestoniana is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 Threatened and Priority Flora list, and fewer than 1,000 individual plants are known to exist. [1] [5] [12] It is also listed as Declared Rare on the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation Declared Rare and Priority Flora List and as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. [2] [5] The species occurs in a very restricted distribution, where its extent of occurrence and area of occupancy are not believed to exceed 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi). The major identified threats include increased bushfire frequency and grazing from quokkas and introduced rabbits. Due to the species only being known from a single location, these threats could potentially affect the entire population in a short period of time. [1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Plummer, J. (2021). "Acacia awestoniana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T172605836A176376513. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 KJ, Atkins (6 October 2008). "Declared Rare and Priority Flora List for Western Australia" (PDF). Department of Environment and Conservation. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Acacia awestoniana". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  4. ↑ "DOI Details". doi.ala.org.au. doi:10.26197/5c0b1388984eb . Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "Acacia awestoniana — Stirling Range Wattle". Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Encironment and Water. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  6. 1 2 Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia awestoniana". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. (1990). "Acacia Miscellany 1. Some oligoneurous species of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae: Section Plurinerves) from Western Australia". Nuytsia. 7 (2): 185–187. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  8. ↑ "Acacia awestoniana". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Acacia awestoniana". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  10. ↑ "Acacia awestoniana". APNI. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "Acacia awestoniana". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  12. ↑ "Threatened species and communities". Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
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