Acacia cataractae

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Acacia cataractae
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. cataractae
Binomial name
Acacia cataractae
Acacia cataractaeDistMap169.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]

Racosperma cataractae(Tindale & Kodela) Pedley

Acacia cataractae is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory, Australia. It is a shrub with brown bark, lance-shaped to narrowly lance-shaped phyllodes with the narrower end towards the base, spikes of bright to golden yellow flowers, and crust-like woody pods up to 50 mm (2.0 in) long.

Contents

Description

Acacia cataractae is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and has fibrous brown bark. Its branchlets are glabrous, angled to almost flattened near the ends. The phyllodes are lance-shaped to narrowly lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 40–105 mm (1.6–4.1 in) long, 7.5–20 mm (0.30–0.79 in) wide, thinly leathery, flat and straight to slightly curved with three prominent longitudinal veins. The flowers are bright to golden yellow and arranged in one to three spikes 10–50 mm (0.39–1.97 in) long in upper axils on peduncles 4–12 mm (0.16–0.47 in) long. Flowering occurs from December to July and the pods are very narrowly lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, sometimes slightly curved, 26–50 mm (1.0–2.0 in) long, and glabrous with a hooked tip, containing glossy brown seeds 2.7–5.3 mm (0.11–0.21 in) long with a conical aril. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy

Acacia cataractae was first formally described in 1992 by Mary Tindale and Phillip Kodela in the journal Telopea from specimens collected near Gunlom Falls in 1975. [3] [6] The specific epithet (cataractae) refers to the falls, near where this species is locally abundant. [3]

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to the Top End of the Northern Territory, where it is usually found on sandy soil in sandstone country amongst rocks and boulders in woodland, in the Arnhem Coast, Arnhem Plateau, Daly Basin, Pine Creek, Tiwi Cobourg and Victoria Bonaparte bioregions. [2] [3] [7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Acacia cataractae". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 Kodela, Phillip G.; Tindale, Mary D. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia cataractae". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Tindale, Mary D.; Kodela, Phillip G. (1992). "New species of Acacia (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) from tropical Australia". Telopea. 5 (1): 56–58. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  4. ↑ "Acacia cataractae". WorldWideWattle. Western Australian Herbarium . Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Acacia cataractae". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  6. ↑ "Acacia cataractae". APNI. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Acacia cataractae". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
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