Trichome

Petermann wattle

Priority Three — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
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. auricoma
Binomial name
Acacia auricoma
Occurrence data from AVH

Acacia auricoma, commonly known as Petermann wattle, Alumaru[1] and Nyalpilintji wattle[2] is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves. It is native to an area in the Northern Territory and the eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.[3]

Description[edit]

The erect sparsely branched shrub typically grows to a height of 2.5 metres (8 ft)[3] and has a straggly habit. It has terete velvety-hairy branchlets with 1 to 1.5 mm (0.039 to 0.059 in) long stipules and golden-coloured hairy new shoots. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The evergreen, hairy and coriaceous phyllodes have an inequilaterally elliptic shape with a length of 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 3.9 in) and have three to five raised main nerves.[2]

Taxonomy[edit]

The species was first formally described by the botanist Bruce Maslin in 1980 as part of the work Acacia (Leguminosae-Mimosoideae): A contribution to the flora of central Australia as published in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. It was reclassified as Racosperma auricomum in 2003 by Leslie Pedley then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006.[4]

Distribution[edit]

It is endemic to a small area of arid central Australia extending from around Anne Range and Bloods Range in the west to the Petermann Range in the east where it is commonly situated on quartzite scree slopes growing in skeletal soils as a part of open shrubland communities dominated by spinifex.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Acacia auricoma Maslin". FloraNT. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Acacia auricoma". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Acacia auricoma". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ^ "Acacia auricoma Maslin". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

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