Acacia flexifolia

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Bent-leaf wattle
Acacia flexifolia.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. flexifolia
Binomial name
Acacia flexifolia
Acacia flexifoliaDistMap364.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]

Racosperma flexifolium(Benth.) Pedley

Habit in the ANBG Acacia flexifolia habit.jpg
Habit in the ANBG

Acacia flexifolia, commonly known as bent-leaf wattle, bent-leaved wattle or small winter wattle, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the east coast of Australia. It is a low-lying or spreading shrub with ascending to erect, linear to narrowly linear or lance-shaped phyllodes with the narrower end towards the base, spherical heads of pale yellow or lemon yellow flowers and narrowly linear, thinly leathery, curved pods.

Contents

Description

Acacia flexifolia is a low-lying, spreading to bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.3–1.5 m (1 ft 0 in – 4 ft 11 in) and has a branchlets angled at the ends with tiny hairs pressed against the surface between resinous ridges. Its phyllodes are ascending to erect, linear to narrowly linear or lance-shaped phyllodes with the narrower end towards the base, 10–25 mm (0.39–0.98 in) long, 1.2–2 mm (0.047–0.079 in) wide and glabrous. The midrib in markedly raised and very near the lower edge of the phyllodes. The flowers are usually borne in two spherical heads in axils, on a peduncles 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long, each head with three to ten pale yellow or lemon yellow flowers. Flowering usually occurs between June and September, and the pods are narrowly linear, thinly leather and curved, up to 100 mm (3.9 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) wide, brown and glabrous. The seeds are oblong, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and shiny brown with an aril on the end. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Taxonomy

Acacia flexifolia was first formally described in 1842 by the botanist George Bentham in Hooker's London Journal of Botany after an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham. [7] [8] The specific epithet (flexifolia) means 'bent or curved leaves'. [9]

Distribution and habitat

Bent-leaf wattle is scattered along the inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range and adjacent plains from near Miles in Queensland through central western New South Wales to Wedderburn in Victoria where it usually grows in open forest, woodland or mallee scrub in shallow soil. [2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Acacia flexifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia flexifolia". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  3. ↑ "Acacia flexifolia". World Wide Wattle. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  4. ↑ "Acacia flexifolia". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  5. ↑ Kodela, Phillip G.; Harden, Gwen J. "Acacia flexifolia". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  6. ↑ Entwisle, Timothy J.; Maslin, Bruce R.; Cowan, Richard S.; Court, Arthur B. "Acacia flexifolia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  7. ↑ "Acacia flexifolia". APNI. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  8. ↑ Bentham, George (1842). Hooker, William Jackson (ed.). "Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species". London Journal of Botany. 1: 359. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  9. ↑ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 204. ISBN   9780645629538.
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