Acacia anceps

Port Lincoln wattle
In Lincoln National Park
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. anceps
Binomial name
Acacia anceps
Synonyms[1]
List
    • Acacia anceps DC. var. anceps
    • Acacia anceps var. angustifolia Benth.
    • Acacia celsiana Ser. nom. illeg.
    • Acacia glauca Ser. orth. var.
    • Acacia glaucescens F.Cels nom. illeg.
    • Acacia megaphylla Benth. nom. inval., pro syn.
    • Acacia megaphylla Benth. nom. inval., pro syn.
    • Acacia muelleri Benth.
    • Acacia pterigoidea Seem.
    • Racosperma anceps (DC.) Pedley
    • Acacia retinodes auct. non Schltdl.: Nelson, E.C. (1974)
Habit in the Barcelona Botanic Garden
Habit at Elliston Beach

Acacia anceps, commonly known as Port Lincoln wattle[2] or the two edged wattle,[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of south-western Australia. It is a bushy, spreading shrub with glabrous branchlets angled at the ends, elliptic to lance-shaped phyllodes with the narrower end towards the base, spherical heads of 50 to 130 golden-yellow flowers, and narrowly oblong pods up to 60 mm (2.4 in) long.

Description

Acacia anceps is a bushy spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) and has branchlets that are glabrous and angled near the ends. The phyllodes are usually elliptic to lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, mostly 25–65 mm (0.98–2.56 in) long, 8–30 mm (0.31–1.18 in) wide, and leathery, sometimes continuous with the branchlets.

The inflorescences are arranged singly in leaf axils in heads of 50 to 130 golden-yellow flowers on a stout, glabrous peduncle mostly 10–26 mm (0.39–1.02 in) long. Flowering occurs from September to February and the pods are narrowly oblong, crust-like to woody, red to brown straight to curved, normally up to 60 mm (2.4 in) long and 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) wide. The seeds are oblong to elliptic, 4.5–6 mm (0.18–0.24 in) long with a reddish-brown stalk.[3][4][5][6]

Taxonomy

Acacia anceps was first formally described in 1825 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis.[7][8] The specific epithet (anceps) means 'two-sided' referring to the flattened stems.[9]

Distribution and habitat

This wattle is endemic to an area along the south coast of southern Australia, where it grows in coastal dune vegetation or open scrub from the Middle Island of the Recherche Archipelago in Western Australia to the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas in South Australia.[3][4][5][6]

Use in horticulture

The plant is used as an ornamental wattle that thrives in coastal locations and is planted as a windbreak. It can be propagated from seeds or from cuttings but needs well drained soils. It will tolerate full sun or part shade and is drought tolerant.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Acacia anceps". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Acacia anceps". Plant Selector. Botanical Gardens of South Australia. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Acacia anceps". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Acacia anceps". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  5. ^ a b Maslin, Bruce R.; Kodela, Phillip G. "Acacia anceps". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Acacia anceps". World Wide Wattle. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Acacia anceps". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  8. ^ de Candolle, Augustin P. (1825). Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis, sive, Enumeratio contracta ordinum generum specierumque plantarum huc usque cognitarium, juxta methodi naturalis, normas digesta. Vol. 2. Paris: Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Würtz. p. 451. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  9. ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 132. ISBN 9780958034180.