Acacia calcarata
| Acacia calcarata | |
|---|---|
| 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. calcarata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia calcarata | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Racosperma calcaratum (Maiden & Blakely) Pedley | |
Acacia calcarata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to inland Western Australia. It is a spreading, prickly shrub with rigid, slightly curved and kinked phyllodes, spherical heads of golden-yellow flowers, and narrowly oblong pods.
Description
Acacia calcarata is a spreading, prickly shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5 to 1.5 metres (2 to 5 ft) and has branchlets that are reddish near their tips, later glabrous and light grey. The phyllodes are rigid, upright to erect, sharply pointed, usually slightly curved and kinked near the gland, 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long and about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide. The gland is about 1 mm (0.039 in) above the base of the phyllode and there are spiny stipules at the base. The flowers are usually borne in two spherical heads in axils, on a peduncle 3.5–7 mm (0.14–0.28 in) long, each head with 16 to 22 golden yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from July to August and the pods are flat, narrowly oblong, blackish, up to 70 mm (2.8 in) long, 10 mm (0.39 in) wide and thinly crust-like containing elliptic seeds about 12 mm (0.47 in) long with a mushroom-shaped aril.[2][3][4][5]
Taxonomy
Acacia calcarata was first formally described by the botanists Joseph Maiden and William Blakely in 1928 in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia.[4][6] The specific epithet (calcarata) means 'spurred', referring to the stipules.[7]
This species is similar to Acacia inamabilis which has much narrower pods, the phyllodes and branchlets of A. calcarata like those of Acacia asepala.[5]
Distribution and habitat
Acacia calcarata grows in loam in open mallee scrub or tall shrubland near Bullabulling and Kalgoorlie, and south-east to Woodline near Norseman, in the Coolgardie and Murchison bioregions of inland Western Australia.[2][3][5]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Acacia calcarata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ a b Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia calcarata". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Acacia calcarata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b Maiden, Joseph; Blakely, William F. (1927). "Descriptions of fifty new species and six varieties of western and northern Australian Acacias, and notes on four other species". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 13: 2. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
- ^ a b c "Acacia calcarata". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ "Acacia calcarata". APNI. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ George, A.S; Sharr, F.A (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and their meanings (4th ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables. p. 154. ISBN 9780958034197.