Acacia brownii
| Heath wattle | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. brownii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia brownii | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
List
| |
Acacia brownii, commonly known as heath wattle or prickly Moses,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to eastern continental Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub with more or less rigid, straight, sharply-pointed phyllodes, bright yellow flowers arranged in spherical heads and curved, flat, leathery pods.
Description
Acacia brownii is an erect or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.3 to 1 m (1 ft 0 in to 3 ft 3 in) and has glabrous to sparsely hairy branchlets. Its phyllodes are more or less rigid, straight, round or four-angled in cross section, sharply-pointed 8–20 mm (0.31–0.79 in) long and up to about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide with awl-shaped stipules at the base and a pronounced mid-rib. The flowers are arranged in a spherical head in axils on a peduncle 4–15 mm (0.16–0.59 in) long. Each head is 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) in diameter with 12 to 30 bright yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from July to November, and the pods are more or less curved, flat and leathery, 15–80 mm (0.59–3.15 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide.[2]
This wattle is similar to A. ulicifolia, but is a sprawling, semi-prostrate shrub less than 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high with linear phyllodes 8–25 mm (0.31–0.98 in) long with a pronounced midrib, the stipules often falling off as the phyllodes mature, and bright golden to deep golden flowers.[3][4][5]
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1813 as Acacia acicularis, in Hortus Kewensis[6][7] but the name was illegitimate. In 1817 Poiret published Mimosa brownei as a replacement name[8] and in 1821 Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel transferred Poiret's Mimosa brownei to Acacia as A. brownii in Nomenclator Botanicus.[9][10]
The specific epithet (brownii) honours honours Robert Brown.[2]
Distribution and habitat
Heath wattle grows on sandy or clay loam in dry sclerophyll forest, woodland or heath in southern and eastern Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.[2] It is found throughout the Great Dividing Range from around the Grampians in Victoria in the south through New South Wales and up to around Burra Burri in Queensland.[4][5]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Acacia brownii". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ a b c d Kodela, Phillip G. "Acacia brownii". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
- ^ Entwisle, Timothy J.; Maslin, Bruce R.; Cowan, Richard S.; Court, Arthur B. "Acacia brownii". Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
- ^ a b Maslin, Brude R. "Acacia brownii". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
- ^ a b "Acacia brownii". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- ^ "Acacia acicularis". APNI. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ Brown, Robert (1813). Aiton, William T. (ed.). Hortus Kewensis. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. p. 460. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "Mimosa brownei". APNI. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "Acacia brownii". APNI. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ Steudel, Ernst Gottlieb (1821). Nomenclator botanicus. Stuttgart: Sumptibus J.G. Cottae. p. 2. Retrieved 12 May 2025.