Acacia leiophylla
| Coast golden wattle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Near Karatta, on Kangaroo Island | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. leiophylla |
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia leiophylla | |
 | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Acacia leiophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of South Australia. It is a shrub or tree with sickle-shaped, glabrous, thinly leathery phyllodes, spherical heads of bright yellow flowers and linear, firmly papery to thinly leathery pods raised over the seeds.
Description
Acacia leiophylla is a shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of up to 4 m (13 ft) and has glabrous, somewhat bending branchlets. Its phyllodes are sickle-shaped, glabrous, thinly leathery, mostly 100–130 mm (3.9–5.1 in) long, 15–22 mm (0.59–0.87 in) wide with a narrowed base, on a pulvinus 9–12 mm (0.35–0.47 in) long. There is a single vein on each face of the phyllodes and a gland usually up to 8 mm (0.31 in) above the pulvinus. The flowers a borne in many spherical heads in racemes 30–70 mm (1.2–2.8 in) long on the ends of branches, or in panicles, on glabrous peduncles 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long, each head with mostly 26 to 28 densely arranged, bright yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from August to November, and the pods are linear, up to 125 mm (4.9 in) long and 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) wide, firmly papery to thinly leathery and raised over the seeds. The seeds are oblong, about 5 mm (0.20 in) long and dark reddish brown, with a club-shaped aril.[2][3][4][5]
Similar in appearance to A. pycnantha, it can be distinguished by its lighter phyllodes.[6]
Taxonomy
Acacia leiophylla was first formally described in 1842 by George Bentham in Hooker's London Journal of Botany from specimens collected near King George Sound by "Bagster".[7][8]
Bruce Maslin and Whibley noted that "Bagster" was corrected to "Baxter" in Bentham's Flora Australiensis and that "King George Sound" is an error for "Kangaroo Island".[9]
Distribution and habitat
This species of wattle occurs along the south coast of South Australia from around Coffin Bay to the Eyre Peninsula and Mount Gambier where it grows in red, shallow, porous loamy limy to leached sands in open scrub with mallee eucalypts.[2][3]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Acacia leiophylla". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia leiophylla". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 "Acacia leiophylla". FloraSA. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "Acacia leiophylla". World Wide Wattle. CSIRO Publishing. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- ↑ Maslin, Bruce R. "Acacia leiophylla". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ Elliot, Rodger W.; Jones, David L.; Blake, Trevor (1985). Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable for Cultivation: Vol. 2. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Lothian Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-85091-143-5.
- ↑ "Acacia leiophylla". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ Bentham, George (1842). Hooker, William Jackson (ed.). "Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species". London Journal of Botany. 1: 351. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ Maslin, Bruce R.; Whibley, David J.E. (1977). "The identity of Acacia leiophylla Benth. (Mimosaceae)". Journal of the Western Australian Herbarium. 2 (3): 162–165. Retrieved 28 July 2026.