Biology:Acacia coolgardiensis

From HandWiki
Short description: Species of legume

Sugar brother
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. coolgardiensis
Binomial name
Acacia coolgardiensis
Maiden
Acacia coolgardiensisDistMap218.png
Occurrence data from AVH

Acacia coolgardiensis, commonly known as sugar brother or spinifex wattle, is a shrub in the family Fabaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it is widely distributed in the semi-arid spinifex country from Carnarvon to Kalgoorlie.

Sugar brother grows to a height of about three metres. It nearly always has multiple stems. Like most Acacia species, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. These are green, and may be up to 10 centimetres long and about three millimetres wide. The flowers are yellow, and held in cylindrical clusters up to two centimetres long and five millimetres wide. The pods are papery, about three millimetres wide.

Taxonomy

It was first published by Joseph Maiden in 1920, based on a specimen collected by Leonard Clarke Webster near Coolgardie in 1900, and a description of the fruit near Kunonoppin supplied by Frederick Stoward. The specific name is in reference to the town of Coolgardie.

There are three recognised subspecies:

  • A. c. subsp. coolgardiensis
  • A. c. subsp. effusa
  • A. c. subsp. latior

See also

References

Wikidata ☰ Q4670904 entry