Acacia notabilis, known colloquially as mallee golden wattle, Flinders wattle[1] or stiff golden wattle,[2] is a species of Acacia native to Australia.

Acacia notabilis
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. notabilis
Binomial name
Acacia notabilis
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms

Racosperma notabile (F.Muell.) Pedley

Description

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It typically grows to a height of 3 to 5 m (9.8 to 16.4 ft) and has a tall and spreading habit. It has smooth reddish-brown bark and spreading, almost terete and glabrous branches. Like most species of Acacia, it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The thick, flat and rigid grey to green phyllodes have a length of up to 15 cm (5.9 in) and a width of around 25 mm (1.0 in) with an oblong-lanceolate shape that is straight or curved. They have a prominent mid-vein with many fine lateral veins and thickened margins. It blooms between July and October producing short flower spikes located in axillary racemes composed of spherical flower heads made up of 4 to 16 deep yellow flowers. Following flowering brown seed pods form that have a narrowly oblong shape with a length of up to 7 cm (2.8 in) and a width of around 10 mm (0.4 in) and contain hard, black ovoid seeds with a length of 6 mm (0.24 in) and a width of 4 mm (0.16 in).[2]

Taxonomy

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The species was first formally described by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1858 as part of the work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. It was reclassified by Leslie Pedley in 2003 as Racosperma notabile but transferred back to genus Acacia in 2014.[3] It is related to Acacia beckleri.[1]

Distribution

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The shrub is native to the Broken Hill district of arid far western New South Wales as well as Victoria and South Australia.[1] The bulk of the population is found in South Australia where the shrub is considered to be quite common. In South Australia it is found on the Eyre Peninsula, the Flinders Ranges, the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Yorke Peninsula as well as more arid areas inland. It is usually found growing in hard and shallow calcareous, alkaline, red or brown duplex soils as a part of low woodland or open scrubland communities.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Harden, Gwen J. (1990). "Acacia notabilis F.Muell". Plantnet - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c "Acacia notabilis (Leguminosae) Stiff Golden Wattle". Seeds of South Australia. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Acacia notabilis F.Muell". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 15 July 2020.