Acacia difficilis

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Acacia difficilis
Acacia difficilis.jpg
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. difficilis
Binomial name
Acacia difficilis
Acacia difficilisDistMap290.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]

Acacia difficilis, commonly known as river wattle, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the tropical north of Australia. It is a shrub or tree with fibrous bark, elliptic to narrowly elliptic phyllodes, spikes of lemon yellow to golden yellow flowers and linear, leathery pods that more or less resemble a string of beads.

Contents

Description

Acacia difficilis is a shrub or tree tree that typically grows to a height of 3.5–13 m (11–43 ft) and has fibrous, grey to brown bark on the trunk and branches. Its branchlets are almost terete, greyish brown and densely covered with soft hairs or sometimes glabrous. The phyllodes are elliptic to narrowly elliptic,mostly 70–140 mm (2.8–5.5 in) long and 15–40 mm (0.59–1.57 in) wide, thinly leathery with five to nine more or less prominent veins and densely covered with silvery white hairs when young. The flowers are lemon yellow to golden yellow and borne in spikes 15–50 mm (0.59–1.97 in) long in racemes 1–75 mm (0.039–2.953 in) long on peduncles 1–7 mm (0.039–0.276 in) long. Flowering mainly occurs from May to September, and the pods are linear, straight or curved, more or less resembling a string of beads, 30–155 mm (1.2–6.1 in) long and 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide and leathery. The seeds are oblong, 5–9 mm (0.20–0.35 in) long, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide and black. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Taxonomy

Acacia difficilis was first formally described in 1917 by Joseph Maiden in an appendix to Acacias of the Northern Territory edited by Alfred James Ewart and Olive Blanche Davies, collected by Gerald Freer Hill in 1916. [7] [8] The specific epithet (difficilis) means 'difficult', and "presumably refers to the difficulty the author had in distinguishing it from Acacia tumida ". [9]

Distribution

River wattle is native to the Northern Kimberley bioregion of Western Australia, [6] the Arnhem Coast, Arnhem Plateau, Central Arnhem, Daly Basin, Darwin Coastal, Davenport Murchison Ranges, Gulf Coastal, Gulf Fall and Uplands, Gulf Plains, Mitchell Grass Downs, Ord Victoria Plain, Pine Creek, Sturt Plateau, Tiwi Cobourg and Victoria Bonaparte bioregions of the Northern Territory, [5] and to the far north-west of Queensland. [2] It is grows in sandy or gravelly soils, often near watercourses, and is frequently associated with Eucalyptus tetrodonta . [2] [3]

Conservation status

Acacia difficilis is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, [6] and as of "least concern" under the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act and the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992 . [10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Acacia difficilis". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Tindale, Mary D.; Kodela, Phillip G.; Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia difficilis". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Acacia difficilis". WorldWideWattle. Western Australian Herbarium . Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Acacia difficilis". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Acacia difficilis". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 "Acacia difficilis". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  7. ↑ "Acacia difficilis". APNI. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  8. ↑ Maiden, Joseph H. (1917). Ewart, Alfred J.; Davies, Olive B. (eds.). The Flora of the Northern Territory. Melbourne: McCarron, Bird & Co. pp. 344–347. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  9. ↑ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 185. ISBN   9780645629538.
  10. ↑ "Taxon - Acacia difficilis". Queensland Government WildNet. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
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