Acacia riceana

Last updated

Rice's wattle
Acacia riceana Hensl. Curtis's botanical magazine s.3 v.26 (1870) (14544089188).jpg
Illustration of Acacia riceana
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. riceana
Binomial name
Acacia riceana
Acacia riceanaDistMap768.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms

Acacia erythropus Ten. nom. dub. [2]

Acacia riceana, commonly known as Rice's wattle, is a small, fast-growing, evergreen shrub to small tree in the legume family endemic to the southeast corner of Tasmania.

Contents

Description

Acacia riceana forms a dense prickly bush up to 5 m (16 ft) in height in the wettest areas of its range. It is one of several species to have narrow pointed phyllodes but is distinctive in having them arranged in groups of 3 to 6. Acacia riceana bears close resemblance to Acacia derwentiana which has similar phyllodes (only narrower) and distribution. [3] It has dense foliage with weeping branches and flowers from July to January with seed pods maturing in January and February. [4]

Taxonomy and naming

English botanist John Stevens Henslow described Rice's wattle in 1839 from a plant grown in Cambridge University Botanic Garden, from seed sent from Tasmania. It still bears its original name. [1] The species was named in honour of Thomas Spring Rice, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time. [5] It is related to Acacia axillaris , but this species has erect rather than weeping branches. [4]

Distribution

Acacia riceana is endemic to the southeast corner of Tasmania, where it grows from sea level to 900 m (3000 ft). Its main populations center around the Derwent, Huon and Prosser River Valleys, although small populations are also located on the slopes of the Ironbound Range in the state's far south. The species also grows densely on slopes overlooking the D'Entrecasteaux Channel from Southport to Margate. Outlying populations grow on the Tasman/Forester Peninsula and South Bruny Island with the most remote being located on Maria Island.

Related Research Articles

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

Acacia denticulosa, commonly known as sandpaper wattle, is a species of Acacia native to the south-west of Western Australia. A spindly shrub 1–4 m high, it flowers from September to October, producing dense, curved, yellow flower spikes.

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

Acacia paradoxa is a plant in the family Fabaceae. Its common names include kangaroo acacia, kangaroo thorn, prickly wattle, hedge wattle and paradox acacia.

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

Acacia enterocarpa, commonly known as jumping jack wattle, is a shrub species that is endemic to eastern Australia.

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

Acacia pendula, commonly known as the weeping myall, true myall, myall, silver-leaf boree, boree, and nilyah, is a species of wattle, which is native to Australia. The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that common names included "Weeping Myall", "True Myall", and Indigenous people of western areas of New South Wales and Queensland referred to the plant as "Boree" and "Balaar".

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

Acacia binervia, commonly known as the coast myall, is a wattle native to New South Wales and Victoria. It can grow as a shrub or as a tree reaching 16 m in height. This plant is reportedly toxic to livestock as the foliage (phyllodes) contain a glucoside which can produce hydrogen cyanide if cut.

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

Acacia genistifolia, commonly known as spreading wattle or early wattle is a species of Acacia in the family Fabaceae that is native to south eastern Australia.

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

Acacia oxycedrus, commonly known as spike wattle, is an erect or spreading shrub which is endemic to Australia.

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

Acacia suaveolens is a shrub species endemic to Australia. It grows to between 0.3 and 3.5 metres high and has smooth purplish-brown or light green bark and has straight or slightly curving blue-green phyllodes The pale yellow to near white globular flower heads generally appear between April and September in its native range. These are followed by flattened, bluish oblong pods which are up to 2 to 5 cm long and 8 to 19 mm wide.

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

Acacia pyrifolia, commonly known as ranji bush is a shrub that is endemic to the north of Western Australia.

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

Acacia concurrens, commonly known as curracabah or black wattle, is a shrub native to Queensland in eastern Australia.

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

Acacia buxifolia, commonly known as box-leaf wattle, is shrub species that is endemic to eastern Australia.

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

Acacia rigens, commonly known as nealie, is an erect or spreading shrub or small tree that is endemic to Australia. Other common names include needle wattle, needlebush acacia, nealia and nilyah.

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

Acacia imbricata, commonly known as imbricate wattle, is a shrub species that is endemic to South Australia.

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

Acacia cognata, commonly known as bower wattle, river wattle or narrow-leaved bower wattle, is a tree or shrub species that is endemic to south eastern Australia.

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

Acacia ausfeldii, commonly known as Ausfeld's wattle or whipstick cinnamon wattle, is a shrub species that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It grows to between 1 and 4 metres high and has phyllodes that are 2 to 7 cm long and 2 to 6 mm wide. The yellow globular flowerheads appear in groups of two or three in the axils of the phyllodes in August to October, followed by straight seed pods which are 4 to 9 cm long and 2 to 4 mm wide.

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

Acacia pubescens, also known as the downy wattle, is a species of wattle found in the Sydney Basin in eastern New South Wales. The downy wattle is classified as vulnerable; much of its habitat has vanished with the growth of the city of Sydney. As with all wattles, it has compound (pinnate) leaf stems.

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

Acacia mucronata, the variable sallow wattle or narrow-leaved wattle, is a shrub or small tree to 5 m high. It is native to southeast Australia, mainly the states of Tasmania and Victoria. It often grows as an understorey tree or shrub in eucalypt forest or as a dominant in scrubland. In drier regions of its distribution, like in northeast Tasmania, it often grows along creeks and sheltered coastlines.

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

Acacia phasmoides, the phantom wattle, is a shrub species that is endemic to south-eastern Australia.

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

Acacia stenoptera, commonly known as narrow-winged wattle, is a species of wattle that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.

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

Acacia caesiella, commonly known as tableland wattle, bluebush wattle or blue bush, is a shrub or small tree that is endemic to eastern Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 "Acacia riceana Hensl". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  2. "Acacia erythropus Ten. nom. dub". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  3. Greg Jordan (2011). "Acacia riceana". Key to Tasmanian Dicots. University of Tasmania. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Acacia riceana Hensl., Botanist 3: t. 135 (1839)". World Wide Wattle. CSIRO Publishing. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  5. Mills, Colin (18 July 2010). "Acacia riceana Hensl". Hortus Camdenensis. Retrieved 17 September 2012.