Acacia spondylophylla

Last updated

Curry wattle
Acacia spondylophylla.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Clade: Mimosoideae
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. spondylophylla
Binomial name
Acacia spondylophylla
Acacia spondylophyllaDistMap843.png
Occurrence data from AVH

Acacia spondylophylla, commonly known as curry wattle [1] or spine-leaf wattle, [2] is a small, flat topped shrub native to central and western Australia. The leaves, which are arranged on spaced whorls around the stem, have a distinctive curry-like smell. [3] [4]

Contents

Description

The viscid shrub typically grows to a height of 0.3 to 1 m (1 ft 0 in to 3 ft 3 in) but can reach up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and has a spreading a flat topped habit. [5] The stems are covered with fine downy hairs and have 1 to 1.5 mm (0.039 to 0.059 in) long stipules. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The phyllodes are arranged in whorls of 8 to 14 and are more or less flattened and straight or recurved towards apex. The phyllodes are 6 to 10 mm (0.24 to 0.39 in) in length and less than 1 mm (0.039 in) wide and also covered in fine downy hairs with a single obscure impressed nerve on upper the upper surface. [1] It usually blooms between May and August producing yellow flowers. [5] The spherical flower-heads contain 25 to 40 yellow coloured flowers. After flowering sticky and leathery seed pods form. The linear to curved pods are 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) in length and 6 to 8 mm (0.24 to 0.31 in) wide and have nerve-like margins and contain transversely arranged seeds with a length of 3.5 to 4 mm (0.14 to 0.16 in). [1]

Distribution

It is found in arid parts of central Australia in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. In Western Australia it is found in the Pilbara and northern Goldfields regions where it is usually found along creeks and on rocky hills and gullies growing in stony or sandy soils often around ironstone. [5] It has a disjunct distribution form the Hamersley Range in the Pilabara where it is quite common extending east and becoming scattered from east of the Rawlinson Range in Western Australia. It is then found in the Macdonnell Ranges and Musgrave Ranges in the Northern Territory and then further east to around Dajarra in Queensland. [1]

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1874 as part of the work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae . [6] It is commonly mistaken for Acacia perryi which has larger stipules and phyllodes. [2]

Cultivation

The species is naturally found growing in stony and sandy soils, and has been brought into cultivation for arid area gardening. [7] [8] The shrub is drought tolerant and regenerates easily from seed. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

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

Acacia verticillata is a perennial shrub to small tree native to south eastern Australia.

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

Acacia maitlandii, also known as Maitland's wattle, is a perennial tree native to Australia.

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

Acacia notabilis, known colloquially as mallee golden wattle, Flinders wattle or stiff golden wattle, is a species of Acacia native to Australia.

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

Acacia adoxa, commonly known as the grey-whorled wattle, is a species of plant in the legume family that is native to northern Australia.

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

Acacia stipuligera is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae. It is native to arid and tropical parts of northern Australia.

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

Acacia anasilla is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Lycopodiifoliae that is endemic to north western Australia.

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

Acacia asperulacea is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Lycopodiifoliae.

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

Acacia capillaris is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Lycopodiifoliae that is endemic to small area in north western Australia.

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

Acacia hippuroides is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Lycopodiifoliae that is endemic to north western Australia

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

Acacia leptospermoides is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae and is endemic to a large area of south western Australia.

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

Acacia quadrisulcata is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae endemic to Western Australia.

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

Acacia rossei, also known as Yellowdine wattle, is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to south western Australia.

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

Acacia simulans is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to south western Australia.

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

Acacia sphacelata is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae that is endemic to south western Australia.

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

Acacia phlebocarpa, also known as tabletop wattle, is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves and is native to northern Australia.

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

Acacia stipulosa is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is endemic to area area of northern Australia.

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

Acacia trineura, known colloquially as three-nerve wattle or three nerved wattle or green wattle, is a species of Acacia native to south eastern Australia.

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

Acacia pickardii, commonly known as Pickard's wattle or birds nest wattle, is a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae native to eastern Australia. It is listed as a vulnerable species according to Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

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

Acacia conspersa is a shrub or tree belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to northern Australia.

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

Acacia rhigiophylla, commonly known as dagger-leaf wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to southern Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Acacia spondylophylla". WorldWideWattle. Western Australian Herbarium . Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Acacia spondylophylla F.Muell". Wattle = Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Moore, P 2005 “A Guide to Plants of Inland Australia” Reed New Holland, Sydney
  4. ↑ "Acacia spondylophylla". 27 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Acacia spondylophylla". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  6. ↑ "Acacia spondylophylla F.Muell". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility . Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Acacia spondylophylla". Alice Springs Town Council. 27 February 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.