Acacia leptoneura
| Slender-nerved acacia | |
|---|---|
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. leptoneura |
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia leptoneura | |
Acacia leptoneura, also known as the slender-nerved acacia,[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a domed shrub with curved or s-shaped, terete phyllodes, spherical heads of flowers and curved, firmly papery pods appearing somewhat like a string of beads.
Description
Acacia leptoneura is a domed shrub that typically grow to a height of 50–80 cm (20–31 in) and has terete branchlets covered with short, stiff hairs pressed against the surface. Its phyllodes are curved or s-shaped, 30–75 mm (1.2–3.0 in) long and about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide, more or less sharply pointed, leathery and more or less glabrous. The phyllodes are striated by 16, slightly raised veins and a gland 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) above a smooth, flared pulvinus. The flowers are arranged in one or two spherical heads in axils on peduncles 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long, each head about 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter with 20 to 30 flowers. The pods are up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long and 2 mm (0.079 in) wide, firmly papery and curved and the seeds are broadly elliptic, about 2 mm (0.079 in) long and light grey, mottled dark brown with a well-developed aril.[3][4][5][6]
This species is very similar to Acacia subflexuosa, apart from its phyllodes having sixteen veins rather than the eight of A. subflexuosa.[7]
Taxonomy
Acacia leptoneura was first formally described in 1842 by George Bentham in Hooker's London Journal of Botany from specimens collected in the Swan River Colony by James Drummond.[8][9] The specific epithet (leptoneura) means 'thin or slender nerved'.[10]
Distribution and habitat
Slender-nerved acacia has an extremely limited distribution and is confined to a roadsides to north east of Dowerin.[3] There are two main populations: The first is found on a low rise on growing in a sandy loamy soils over laterite, in a mostly cleared area of shrubland where it is associated with Hakea scoparia and Santalum acuminatum. The second population is growing in a sandy-loamy soil atop a low ridge composed of laterite in open mallee shrubland containing Allocasuarina acutivalvis, A. campestris and Melaleuca coronicarpa.[11]
Conservation status
Acacia leptoneura is listed as 'Critically Endangered' under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999[1] and as 'Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)' by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[6]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Species Profile and Threats Database - Acacia leptoneura". Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ "Acacia leptoneura". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Acacia leptoneura Benth". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- ↑ Maslin, Bruce R.; Cowan, Richard S. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia leptoneura". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ "Acacia leptoneura". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
- 1 2 "Acacia leptoneura". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ↑ Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. (1999). "Acacia miscellany 17. Miscellaneous new taxa and lectotypifications in Western Australian Acacia, mostly section Plurinerves (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae)". Nuytsia. 12 (3): 425–426. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ "Acacia leptoneura". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ Bentham, George (1842). Hooker, William Jackson (ed.). "Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species". London Journal of Botany. 1: 341–342. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
- ↑ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 245. ISBN 9780645629538.
- ↑ "Acacia leptoneura Interim Recovery Plan 2012–2017" (PDF). Department of Environment and Conservation. Retrieved 8 August 2026.