''Acacia meiantha'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

and the subgenus ''Phyllodineae'' 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 a small area in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It was listed as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

in 2018 according to the ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

''.

Description

The shrub has an erect or sometimes straggling habit and can grow to a height of around and often spreads by suckering. It has smooth greenish brown to grey or light brown coloured bark and angled hairy branchlets. Like most species of ''Acacia'' it has

phyllode Phyllodes are modified petiole (botany), petioles or leaf stems, which are leaf-like in appearance and function. In some plants, these become flattened and widened, while the leaf itself becomes reduced or vanishes altogether. Thus the phyllode co ...

s rather than true leaves. The crowded,

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

and evergreen phyllodes are straight to slightly curved, with a length of and a width of and have an indistinct midvein. It blooms between July and October producing yellow flowers. The simple

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are found in groups of 2 to 19 in an axillary raceme. The spherical flower-heads have a diameter of and contain four to eight yellow to dark yellow coloured flowers. Following flowering firmly papery to thinly leathery glabrous

seed pod This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnify ...

s form. The straight or slightly curved pods are more or less flat and straight sided or constricted a little between each of the seeds. the pods are around in length and wide.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanists

Mary Tindale Mary Douglas Tindale (19 September 1920 – 31 March 2011) was an Australia Australian botanist. She was an Australian botanist specialising in pteridology (ferns) and the genera ''Acacia'' and ''Glycine''. She devoted her life to the study of f ...

and C.Herscovich in 1992 as part of the work ''Acacia meiantha (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae), a new species from the Central Tablelands of New South Wales'' as published in the journal ''

Australian Systematic Botany ''Australian Systematic Botany'' is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by CSIRO Publishing. It is devoted to publishing original research, and sometimes review articles, on topics related to systematic botany, such as b ...

''. It was reclassified as ''Racosperma meianthum'' 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 ...

in 2003 then transferred back to genus ''Acacia'' in 2006. The latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

of ''meiantha'' is derived from the few flowers contained in the flower-heads. The phyllodes resemble those of ''

Acacia linifolia ''Acacia linifolia'', known colloquially as white wattle, or flax wattle, is a species of ''Acacia'' native to eastern Australia. Description The shrub typically grows to a height of and has an erect or spreading habit with greyish coloured sm ...

'' and '' Acacia boormanii''.

Distribution

It has a limited range from around Clarence and Mullions Range in the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

where it is found among dry

sclerophyll forest Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

or woodland communities growing in clay or sandy soil. The area of its range is estimated to be consisting of severely fragmented populations that are in decline. There are three disjunct populations located on the Central Tablelands situated within of one another.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4670964 meiantha Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1992 Taxa named by Mary Tindale

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

See also

References