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Acacia brachyclada

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Acacia brachyclada
Near Pingrup
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. brachyclada
Binomial name
Acacia brachyclada
"Acacia brachyclada" occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
Acacia brachyclada occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
Synonyms[1]

Racosperma brachycladum (W.Fitzg.) Pedley

Acacia brachyclada is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dense, rounded to spreading, sticky shrub with egg-shaped to elliptic or oblong phyllodes, spherical heads of golden-yellow flowers, and coiled, firmly papery pods somewhat like a string of beads.

Description

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Acacia brachyclada is a dense, rounded to spreading or low-domed, sticky shrub that typically grows to a height of 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in), and sometimes has arching branches. The phyllodes are egg-shaped to elliptic or oblong, 2–7 mm (0.079–0.276 in) long and 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide with a point on the end. The flowers are borne in spherical heads in axils on a peduncle 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long, the heads with 12 to 16 golden-yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from August to February, and the pods are coiled, firmly papery, glabrous, somewhat like a string of beads, 2.5–4.5 mm (0.098–0.177 in) long with inflated oblong seeds 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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Acacia brachyclada was first formally described in 1912 by the botanist William Vincent Fitzgerald in the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign from specimens collected near Kellerberrin.[4][5] The specific epithet (brachyclada) means 'short shoot or branch'.[6]

Distribution and habitat

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This species of wattle has a scattered distribution between Kununoppin, Ravenshorpe and Mount Ridley north of Esperance in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia. It is mostly found on gentle undulating plains and low lying areas where grows in clay, loam, sandy or calcareous soils in mallee scrub or woodland.[2][3][7]

Conservation status

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Acacia brachyclada is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Acacia brachyclada". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b Maslin, Bruce R.; Kodela, Phillip G. "Acacia brachyclada". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Acacia brachyclada". World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Acacia brachyclada". APNI. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  5. ^ Fitzgerald, William V. (1912). "New West Australian plants". Journal of Botany, British and Foreign. 50: 20. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  6. ^ George, Alex; Sharr, Francis (2021). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 149. ISBN 9780958034180.
  7. ^ a b "Acacia brachyclada". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.