Acacia arcuatilis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Acacia arcuatilis |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Acacia
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| Species: |
arcuatilis
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Acacia arcuatilis is a special type of shrub that belongs to the large plant group called Acacia. It's found only in the southwestern parts of Australia. This means it's endemic to that area.
What Does It Look Like?
This rounded, spreading shrub can grow from about 0.4 to 1.5 meters (1.3 to 4.9 feet) tall. Its young branches are covered in fine, silky hairs. They also have reddish-brown or yellowish-brown sticky lines, called resin-ribs, at their tips.
Like many Acacia plants, it doesn't have true leaves. Instead, it has special flattened stems called phyllodes. These phyllodes are evergreen, meaning they stay green all year. They are usually curved, sometimes even curling into a full circle.
The phyllodes are grey-green and round, like a pencil. They are about 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 inches) long. They are also quite thin, about 0.6 to 1.2 millimeters (0.02 to 0.05 inches) wide. You can see hairs in the grooves between the veins on the phyllodes. Each side usually has eight wide, flat-topped veins.
This plant flowers from June to August. It produces small, round, yellow flowers. These flowers usually grow in pairs where a leaf meets the stem, which is called the axil. Each flower-head is about 4 to 5 millimeters (0.16 to 0.20 inches) across. They contain 10 to 22 bright golden flowers.
After the flowers, thin, leathery seed pods grow. These pods are long and narrow. They are slightly bumpy where each seed is and a bit squeezed between them. The pods are straight or slightly curved. They can be up to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) long and 1.5 to 2 millimeters (0.06 to 0.08 inches) wide. They have hairs on their surfaces and wide edges.
Inside the pods, the seeds are arranged lengthwise. They are shiny and have a mottled pattern. The seeds are oval-shaped, about 2 to 2.5 millimeters (0.08 to 0.10 inches) long. Each seed has a small, cone-shaped attachment called an aril, which is about the same length as the seed itself.
Where Does It Grow?
Acacia arcuatilis is found naturally in specific areas of Western Australia. These areas include the Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions.
This plant can grow in different types of soil. It likes loam (a mix of sand, silt, and clay), sandy soils, or lateritic soils (red, iron-rich soils). You can often find it growing on flat plains or gentle hills.
Most of these plants are found in a specific range. This range stretches from around Bindi Bindi in the north. It goes south to places like Ongerup. It also reaches as far east as Hyden.
It usually grows as part of open mallee scrub. Mallee scrub is a type of bushland with many small, multi-stemmed eucalyptus trees. Less often, it can be found in open heath communities. Heath communities are areas with low-growing shrubs.
