Acacia echinula
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hedgehog wattle | |
|---|---|
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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. echinula |
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia echinula | |
 | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Racosperma echinulum (DC.) Pedley | |
Acacia echinula, commonly known as hedgehog wattle,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is an intricate shrub with hairy branchlets, rather crowded phyllodes, spherical heads of mid-golden yellow flowers and curved, thinly leathery to crusty pods.
Acacia echinula is an intricate shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 2 m (7 ft), and has branchlets covered with fine hairs. Its phyllodes are rather crowded, more or less sessile terete phyllodes, 5–14 mm (0.20–0.55 in) long, 1.0–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide, rigid and sharply pointed. The flowers are borne in a spherical head in axils on a peduncle 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long, the heads 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) in diameter with 27 to 42 mid-golden yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from July to September, and the pods are up to 40 mm (1.6 in) long, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) wide and thinly leathery to crusty and blackish. The seeds are oblong, 4 mm (0.16 in) long and dark brown.[2][3][4][5]
Taxonomy
Acacia echinula was first formally described in 1825 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis from specimens collected by Franz Sieber.[6][7] The specific epithet (echinula) means 'having small prickles'.[3]