Trichome

Hitchinbrook wattle
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. homaloclada
Binomial name
Acacia homaloclada
Occurrence data from AVH

Acacia homaloclada, also commonly known as Hitchinbrook wattle,[1] is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is endemic to north eastern Australia. It is listed as vulnerable according to the 1992 Nature Conservation Act.[1]

Description[edit]

The glabrous shrub typically grows to a height of up to 5 m (16 ft) and has a spindly habit. It has branchlets that are flattened towards the extremities with pink coloured new shoots. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The thin and evergreen phyllodes have a lanceolate to narrowly elliptic shape with a length of 6 to 12 cm (2.4 to 4.7 in) and a width of 9 to 20 mm (0.35 to 0.79 in) and have three prominent, longitudinal main nerves with few minor nerves. It blooms between November and December producing yellow coloured flowers.[2]

Taxonomy[edit]

The species was first formally described by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1878 as a part of the work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. It was reclassified as Racosperma homalocladum by Leslie Pedley in 1987 then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2001.[3]

Distribution[edit]

The shrub has a limited range in north Queensland from around Ingham including Hinchinbrook Island where it is not common. It is usually found along watercourses as a part of open Eucalypt woodland communities growing in sandy soils.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Species profile — Acacia homaloclada". Queensland Government. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Acacia homaloclada". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Acacia homaloclada F.Muell". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 29 November 2020.

Leave a Reply