Acacia erinacea

Acacia erinacea
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. erinacea
Binomial name
Acacia erinacea Benth. [1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]
Acacia erinaceaBenth. var. erinacea Acacia erinacea var. microphyllaE.Pritz. Racosperma erinaceum(Benth.) Pedley

Habit near the Eyre Highway, South Australia

Acacia erinacea is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Australia. It is a rigid, intricate, prickly, spreading shrub with short, widely-spreading, whitish, spiny branchlets, ascending to erect, oblong phyllodes, spherical heads of golden yellow flowers and oblong pods.

Description

Acacia erinacea is a rigid, intricate, prickly, spreading shrub that typically grows to 0.3–1 m (1 ft 0 in – 3 ft 3 in) high, sometimes forming prostrate mats or reaching up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high. It has short, widely branching finely ribbed, spiny branchlets that often have no leaves. The new shoots are red to red-brown. The phyllodes are mostly ascending to erect and oblong, 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) long, 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide, grey-green to glaucous, sometimes whitish with an obscure midrib. The flowers are borne in a spherical head in axils in a raceme more than 0.5 mm (0.020 in) long on a red to reddish-brown peduncle 4–12 mm (0.16–0.47 in) long, each head with 12 to 22 golden yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from June to November and the pods are oblong to narrowly oblong, slightly biconvex, straight, usually 10–30 mm (0.39–1.18 in) long and 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) wide and crusty without internal divisions. The seeds are oblong to widely elliptic, 3.5–4.0 mm (0.14–0.16 in) long, one side often flattened, shiny dark brown with an aril near the end. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Taxonomy

Acacia erinacea was first formally described in 1842 by George Bentham in the London Journal of Botany from specimens collected by James Drummond in the Swan River Colony. ^{[6] [7]} The specific epithet (erinacea) means 'hedgehog' (used as an adjective), referring to the spiny habit. ^[8]

Distribution and habitat

This species of wattle is widespread from Kalbarri National Park, south to Broomehill and east to Eucla in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Hampton, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Murchison, Nullarbor, Swan Coastal Plain and Yalgoo bioregions of South-western Western Australia. It also occurs just into the extreme south-west of South Australia. In grows in a variety of soils, often on clay, in woodland, mallee woodland and sandplain scrub, on hills and flats. ^{[2] [5]}

Conservation status

Acacia erinacea is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. ^[5]

See also

• List of Acacia species

References

1. "Acacia erinacea". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
2. Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia erinacea". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
3. "Acacia erinacea". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium . Retrieved 14 January 2019.
4. "Acacia erinacea". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
5. "Acacia erinacea". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
6. "Acacia erinacea". APNI. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
7. Bentham, George (1842). "Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species". London Journal of Botany. 1: 360. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
8. George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 196. ISBN   9780645629538.