Acacia benthamii

Acacia benthamii
Conservation status
Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Clade:	Mimosoid clade
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	A. benthamii
Binomial name
Acacia benthamii Meisn. [1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]
Acacia benthamiiMeisn. var. benthamii Racosperma benthamii(Meisn.) Pedley

Acacia benthamii, commonly known as Bentham's wattle, ^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the west coast of Western Australia near Perth. It is a shrub with ribbed branchlets, linear, sharply-pointed phyllodes and spherical heads of golden-yellow flowers.

Description

Acacia benthamii is a shrub that typically grows to a height of about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and has ribbed branchlets, sometimes with a few minute woolly hairs. Its phyllodes are linear, thinly leathery, glabrous, 20–25 mm (0.79–0.98 in) long, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide and sharply-pointed with two or three main veins on each side. There are stipules 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) long at the base of the phyllodes, but that fall off as the phyllodes develop. The flowers are borne in one or two spherical heads in axils on a peduncle 2.5–5.5 mm (0.098–0.217 in) long. Each head is 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter with 27 to 35 golden-yellow flowers. Flowering occurs between about August to September, but the pods have not been seen. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Taxonomy

Acacia benthamii was first formally described by the botanist Carl Meissner in 1844 in Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae from specimens collected by James Drummond. ^{[6] [7]} The specific epithet (benthamii) honours George Bentham. ^[8]

This species is closely related to A. sessilis and closely resembles A. cochlearis . ^{[3] [4]}

Distribution and habitat

Bentham's wattle is endemic to near-coastal areas of Western Australia from around Dandaragan in the north to around Subiaco in the south, and is commonly found on limestone breakaways. ^{[3] [4]}

Conservation status

Acacia benthamii is listed as "Priority Two" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, ^[2] meaning that it is poorly known and from one or a few locations. ^[9]

See also

• List of Acacia species

References

1. "Acacia benthamii". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
2. "Acacia benthamii". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
3. Cowan, Richard S. Reid, Jordan E.; Kodela, Phillip G. (eds.). "Acacia benthamii". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
4. "Acacia benthamii Meisn". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Department of the Environment and Energy . Retrieved 22 July 2019.
5. "Acacia benthamii". World Wide Wattle. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
6. "Acacia benthamii". APNI. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
7. Meissner, Carl (1844). Lehmann, Johann G.C. (ed.). Plantae Preissianae. Hamburg: Sumptibus Meissneri. p. 11. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
8. George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 145. ISBN   9780958034180.
9. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 7 April 2025.