Acacia arafurica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Acacia arafurica | |
|---|---|
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. arafurica |
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia arafurica | |
 | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Racosperma arafuricum (Tindale & Kodela) Pedley | |
Acacia arafurica is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the far north of the Northern Territory. It is a shrub or tree obliquely egg-shaped to diamond-shaped phyllodes, flowers arranged in spikes of golden yellow flowers, and papery, linear pods up to 105 mm (4.1 in) long.
Acacia arafurica is a shrub or tree that typically grows up to 4 m high, with densely hairy, terete branchlets. The phyllodes are asymmetrically egg-shaped to diamond-shaped, 15–34 mm (0.59–1.34 in) long and 9–25 mm (0.35–0.98 in) wide. The phyllodes are leathery, with three to five prominent veins and a prominent gland 1.6–5 mm (0.063–0.197 in) long above the base. The flowers are golden-yellow and usually borne singly or rarely in pairs in axils, 10–21 mm (0.39–0.83 in) long and 4.0–5.5 mm (0.16–0.22 in) wide, each flower on a peduncle 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long. Flowering occurs between April and July and the fruit is a linear, more or less straight, hairy, papery Pod 65–105 mm (2.6–4.1 in) long that resembles a string of beads. The seeds are 6.0–7.0 mm (0.24–0.28 in) long and 2.1–3.1 mm (0.083–0.122 in) wide and glossy black.[2][3][4]
Acacia arafurica is distinguished from A. sublanata by its thicker and larger phyllodes, its longer peduncles, and its inflorescences arranged in the form of a spike (spicate).[2][3][4]
Taxonomy
Acacia arafurica was first formally described in 1992 by the botanists Mary Tindale and Phillip Kodela in the journal Telpoea.[3][5] The specific epithet (arafurica) refers to the Arafura Sea which lies to the north of where A. arafurica is found.[3]