Acacia gunnii

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Ploughshare wattle
Ploughshare wattle (2888769325).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. gunnii
Binomial name
Acacia gunnii
Acacia gunniiDistMap411.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms
  • Acacia gunnii var. angustifoliaBenth.
  • Acacia gunnii var. hirsutiorBenth.
  • Acacia vomeriformisA.Cunn. ex Benth.
  • Racosperma gunnii(Benth.) Pedley

Acacia gunnii, commonly known as ploughshare wattle [1] or dog's tooth wattle, [1] is a woody shrub which is endemic to south-eastern Australia found in dry heaths and woodlands. [2] [3] It ranges from Queensland, then New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia, down to Tasmania. [2] Acacia gunnii grows to up to 1 metre high and has prickly phyllodes which are 4 to 15 mm long. The cream to pale yellow globular flowerheads appear singly in the axils of the phyllodes in June to October, followed by curved or coiled seed pods which are 40 mm long and 4 to 5 mm wide. [4] [5] Acacia gunnii grows up to 1 meter tall and has prickly phyllodes which are 4 to 15mm in length with cream to pale-yellow globular flower heads appearing in phyllode axils in June through to October, followed by curved or coiled seed pods which are 40mm long and 4 to 5 mm wide. [6] [7] The species was first formally described by English botanist George Bentham in the London Journal of Botany in 1842. [4] It occurs in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, and Queensland. [4]

Contents

Description

Acacia gunnii is a woody decumbent to erect shrub up to 1 meter in height, branchlets are terete usually covered with stiff hairs. [6] [3] Dark green phyllodes are asymmetric, can be sessile, variable in shape usually with a pronounced gland on adaxial margin near or below middle. [6] [8] Phyllodes are 4-15mm long and 1.4-4mm across and appear glabrous or finely haired with a prominent mid-vein, sometimes the apex pungent pointed. [6] [8]

Inflorescences are simple with 1 in the axis of phyllodes, peduncles are hairy, 4–15 mm in length with the head being globose, 20-30 flowered, cream to yellow coloured, and 5-8mm in diameter. [8]

Pods are more or less straight being 40mm long and 4-5mm in width, dark brown to black containing longitudinal to oblique seeds. Pods are chartaceous to coriaceous, glaberous and occasionally are covered in hair. [8] [6]

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by English botanist George Bentham in the London Journal of Botany in 1842. [9]

Botanical classification

Acacia gunnii is a member of the plant genus Acacia, commonly known as the Wattle's, which belong to the sub-family Mimosoidea, which is under the family Fabaceae . [10] [11] Globally there are approximately 1350 Acacia species, and they are the largest group of Australian vascular plants with near 1000 different species. [10] [12]

The Fabaceae family is split into three distinct sub-families:

However, recent studies have shown that a new classification system consisting of six sub-families within Fabaceae is possible, and under such classification system the genus Acacia is included in the sub-family Caesalpinioideae, [12] [11] however this is yet to be adopted by the Australasian Virtual Herbarium.

Hybrids with other species

Acacia gunnii is reported to have hybridised with Acacia ulicifolia and Acacia brownii in New South Wales and Victoria which has resulted in specimens with elongated phyllodes and with a much reduced gland angle. [6] [13] Possible hybrids with elongated phyllodes occur in the same locations as the normal form for each species. [13]

Distribution and habitat

Acacia gunni is a widespread woody shrub species along the eastern seaboard of Australia. It is commonly found along the Great Divide and associated slopes from the Grampions, Victoria, through to near Stanthorpe in Queensland, [14] It is also found uncommonly in Tasmania. [3] Acacia gunnii occurs on rocky hillsides and amongst rock outcrops in open dry sclerophyll forest usually mainly composed of Eucalyptus olbliqua and Eucalyptus baxteri as the dominant Eucalyptus species. [14] [8] It is generally associated with sandy loam soils where rainfall is around 500 – 1000 mm per annum. [14] It is most abundant in regions of partially disturbed and open rocky habitat with sparse understory, commonly, along track/road edges. [14]

Related Research Articles

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Acacia leprosa, also known as cinnamon wattle, is an acacia native to Australia. It occurs in woodland in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria. It occurs as a hardy shrub or small tree. The phyllodes are 3–14 cm long and contain oil glands. The lemon-yellow flowers occur as globular heads in clusters in the leaf axils. The fruit is flat seed pod.

<i>Acacia cultriformis</i> Species of legume

Acacia cultriformis, known as the knife-leaf wattle, dogtooth wattle, half-moon wattle or golden-glow wattle, is a perennial tree or shrub of the genus Acacia native to Australia. It is widely cultivated, and has been found to have naturalised in Asia, Africa, North America, New Zealand and South America. A. cultriformis grows to a height of about 4 m (13 ft) and has triangle-shaped phyllodes. The yellow flowers appear from August to November in its natural range. Its attractive foliage and bright flowers make it a popular garden plant.

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<i>Acacia brachystachya</i> Species of plant

Acacia brachystachya, commonly known as umbrella mulga, turpentine mulga or false bowgada, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. The species occurs in mulga and heath communities on sandhills and rocky ridges in all mainland states of Australia, except Victoria.

<i>Acacia implexa</i> Species of plant

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<i>Acacia acinacea</i> Species of plant

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<i>Acacia alata</i> Species of legume


Acacia alata, commonly known as winged wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a much-branched shrub, its phyllodes continuous with the branches and arranged on either side of them, flowers arranged in racemes of 2 spherical heads of white to golden-yellow flowers, and flat, curved, crusty pods 20–80 mm (0.79–3.15 in) long.

<i>Acacia stenophylla</i> Species of tree

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<i>Acacia pravissima</i> Species of legume

Acacia pravissima, commonly known as Ovens wattle, Oven wattle, wedge-leaved wattle and Tumut wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is an evergreen shrub native to Victoria, the South West Slopes and Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia.

<i>Acacia williamsonii</i> Species of legume

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<i>Acacia hakeoides</i> Species of plant

Acacia hakeoides, known colloquially as hakea wattle, hakea-leaved wattle or western black wattle, is a species of flowering plant endemic to southern Australia. It is a bushy shrub or tree with lance-shaped to linear phyllodes, racemes of bright golden-yellow flowers and more or less leathery to leathery to hard and brittle pods. It can be found growing in sandy soils in semiarid and Eucalyptus woodland in the region.

<i>Acacia burkittii</i> Species of legume

Acacia burkittii is a species of wattle endemic to Western Australia, South Australia and western New South Wales, where it is found in arid zones, and is a perennial shrub in the family Fabaceae. Common names for it include Burkitt's wattle, fine leaf jam, gunderbluey, pin bush and sandhill wattle. It has also been introduced into India. Previously this species was referred to as Acacia acuminata subsp. burkittii, but is now considered to be a separate species. It grows in mallee, eucalypt and mulga woodland or shrubland, often on sandhills.

<i>Acacia cana</i> Species of legume

Acacia cana, or commonly named as boree or the cabbage-tree wattle or broad-leaved nealie, is part of the family Fabaceae and sub-family Mimosoideae. It is a dense shrub- tree that can grow to 6 metres (20 ft) high and is a perennial plant meaning it has long life span and doesn’t necessary produce a high amount of seed. The cabbage-tree wattle heavily flowers from August till October and relies on animals and insects for pollination and dispersal of seeds. This least concern acacia species is found in the western plains of New South Wales and Central Queensland the habitats of these areas are found to be sandy soils and gibber plains.

Acacia anastomosa, also known as Carson River wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to northern Western Australia. It is a spindly, staggly shrub with many stems, narrowly elliptic phyllodes, 1 or 2 heads of densely flowered spikes in axils, and narrowly oblong pods.

<i>Acacia pataczekii</i> Species of plant

Acacia pataczekii, commonly known as Pataczek's wattle or Wally's wattle, is a rare leguminous species of flowering plant endemic to Tasmania, Australia. An attractive evergreen shrub to small tree grown ornamentally outside of its native range, it is believed to be the most frost hardy of all the Acacia.

<i>Acacia aculeatissima</i> Species of legume

Acacia aculeatissima, commonly known as thin-leaf wattle or snake wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is usually a prostrate shrub with sharply pointed, needle-shaped phyllodes, flowers arranged in up to 3 more or less spherical heads of 15 to 25 flowers, and linear, papery pods up to 60 mm (2.4 in) long.

<i>Acacia amoena</i> Species of legume

Acacia amoena, commonly known as boomerang wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a shapely, erect or spreading shrub with usually lance-shaped to elliptic phyllodes, usually yellow or bright yellow flowers arranged in a raceme of 5 to 21 heads each with 6 to 12 flowers, and straight or curved pods 40–120 mm (1.6–4.7 in) long.

<i>Acacia glandulicarpa</i> Species of legume

Acacia glandulicarpa, commonly known as the hairy-pod wattle, is a perennial shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodinea that is native to parts of south eastern Australia.

<i>Acacia latzii</i> Species of plant

Acacia latzii, also known as Latz's wattle and Tjilpi wattle, is a shrubby tree of the genus Acacia. It is native to the Finke bioregion.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Acacia gunnii Benth". Australian Plant Name Index . Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 31 August 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "Acacia gunnii". PlantNET - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 "Key to Tasmanian Dicots". www.utas.edu.au. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "ABRS Flora of Australia Online Search Results: Acacia gunnii". Flora of Australia Online . Australian National Botanic Gardens. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Wild Plants of Victoria (database). Viridans Biological Databases & Department of Sustainability and Environment. 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Flora of Victoria". vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Australian National Botanic Gardens - Growing Acacia". www.anbg.gov.au. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "PlantNET - FloraOnline". plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Fact sheet for Acacia gunnii". www.flora.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  10. 1 2 Australian National Botanic Gardens, Parks Australia. "Wattles, genus Acacia - Australian Plant Information". www.anbg.gov.au. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  11. 1 2 "New Subfamily Classification of the Leguminosae and Insights into Plastomes of the Mimosoid Clade----Chinese Academy of Sciences". english.cas.cn. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 "Acacia". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Factsheet - Acacia gunnii". apps.lucidcentral.org. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Acacia gunnii" (PDF). Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges: Threatened species list. May 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2003.
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