Acacia desertorum

Acacia desertorum
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. desertorum
Binomial name
Acacia desertorum Maiden & Blakely [1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]
Racosperma desertorum(Maiden & Blakely) Pedley

Acacia desertorum is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the southern inland of Western Australia. It is a shrub with terete phyllodes, tooth-like stipules, spherical heads of bright golden yellow flowers and more or linear, thinly leathery pods.

Description

Acacia desertorum is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.6 to 2 metres (2 to 7 ft), and rarely a tree to 4 mm (0.16 in), that has branchlets that are covered with silky hairy between glabrous ribs. The phyllodes are ascending, terete and straight to slightly curved, 50–130 mm (2.0–5.1 in) long and 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) in diameter and have 8 to 16 parallel rather broad veins. The flowers are bright golden yellow, and borne in one or two spherical, elliptic or oblong heads 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) in diameter, in axils on a peduncle 3–8 mm (0.12–0.31 in) long. Flowering time depends on the variety, and the pods are linear, straight to slightly curved, up to 85 mm (3.3 in) long and 1.5–2 mm (0.059–0.079 in) wide. The seeds are linear, mottled light brown 4.0–4.5 mm (0.16–0.18 in) long with a conical aril about the same length as the seed. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Taxonomy

Acacia desertorum was first formally described in 1927 by the botanists Joseph Maiden and William Blakley in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia from specimens collected in the Victoria Desert by Richard Helms in 1891 during the Elder Exploring Expedition. ^{[5] [6]}

In 1995, Richard Cowan and Bruce Maslin described two varieties of A. desertorum in the journal Nuytsia , ^[7] and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

• Acacia desertorumMaiden & Blakely var. desertorum ^[8] has phyllodes with 8 broad veins of approximately equal widths, and flowers in July, and from September to November or sometimes to February. ^{[3] [9] [10] [11]}
• Acacia desertorum var. nudipesR.S.Cowan & Maslin. ^[12] has phyllodes with 16 veins of unequal widths and flowers from August to October. ^{[3] [13] [14] [15]}

Distribution and habitat

This species of wattle has a disjunct distribution, occurring in the Southern Cross and Coolgardie areas, and in the Great Victoria Desert in the Coolgardie, Great Victoria Desert and Murchison bioregions of southern inland Western Australia. ^{[2] [3]}

Conservation status

Acacia desertorum var. desertorum is listed as "not threatened", but var. nudipes is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, ^[4] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat, ^[16]

See also

• List of Acacia species

References

1. "Acacia desertorum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
2. Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia desertorum". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
3. "Acacia desertorum". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium . Retrieved 29 July 2019.
4. "Acacia desertorum". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
5. Maiden, Joseph H.; Blakely, William F. (1927). "Descriptions of fifty new species and six varieties of western and northern Australian Acacias, and notes on four other species". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 13: 24. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
6. "Acacia desertorum". APNI. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
7. Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. (1995). "Acacia Miscellany 10. New taxa and notes on previously described taxa of Acacia, mostly section Juliflorae (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae), in Western Australia". Nuytsia. 10 (1): 33–34. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
8. "Acacia desertorum var. desertorum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
9. Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia desertorum var. desertorum". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
10. "Acacia desertorum var. desertorum". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
11. "Acacia desertorum var. desertorum". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
12. "Acacia desertorum var. nudipes". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
13. Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia desertorum var. nudipes". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
14. "Acacia desertorum var. nudipes". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
15. "Acacia desertorum var. nudipes". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
16. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 12 September 2025.