''Acacia epacantha'' is a shrub of the genus ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

'' and the subgenus ''Pulchellae'' that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to an area in the south west of Australia.

Description

The dense bushy spiny shrub typically grows to a height of and has a spreading habit with branchlets that have axillary long spines that around found singly on each node. The single pair of

pinnae Pinna may refer to: Biology * Pinna (anatomy), or auricle, the outer part of the ear * ''Pinna'' (bivalve), a genus of molluscs * Pinna (botany), a primary segment of a compound leaf People Surname * Christophe Pinna (born 1968), French marti ...

have a length of and have two pairs of

pinnule A leaflet (occasionally called foliole) in botany is a leaf-like part of a compound leaf. Though it resembles an entire leaf, a leaflet is not borne on a main plant stem or branch, as a leaf is, but rather on a petiole or a branch of the leaf. C ...

s with a length of and a width of . It blooms from July to August and produces yellow flowers. It is closely related to

Acacia fagonioides ''Acacia fagonioides'' is a shrub of the genus ''Acacia'' and the subgenus ''Pulchellae'' that is endemic to an area of south western Australia. Description The spinescent shrub typically grows to a height of with hairy, intricate branchlets wi ...

, and they are the members of Acacia pulchella group.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist

Bruce Maslin Bruce Roger Maslin (born 3 May 1946) is an Australian botanist, known for his work on ''Acacia'' taxonomy. Born in Bridgetown, Western Australia, Bridgetown, Western Australia, he obtained an honours degree in botany from the University of West ...

in 1979 as a part of the work ''Studies in the genus Acacia (Mimosaceae) - 9 Additional notes on the Series Pulchellae Benth.'' as published in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma epacanthum'' in 2003 by

Leslie Pedley Leslie Pedley (19 May 1930 – 27 November 2018)IPNILeslie Pedley/ref> was an Australian botanist who specialised in the genus ''Acacia''. He is notable for bringing into use the generic name ''Racosperma'', creating a split in the genus, which r ...

then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006.

Distribution

It is native to an area on the west coast in the Wheatbelt region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

where it is commonly found growing in gravelly

lateritic Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...

loam or clay soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9564454 epacantha Endemic flora of Southwest Australia Acacias of Western Australia Taxa named by Bruce Maslin Plants described in 1979

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

See also

References