Wyrilda facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wyrilda |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Acacia
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| Species: |
confluens
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Acacia confluens, often called wyrilda, is a special kind of shrub. It's part of the Acacia plant group. This plant is found only in central Australia, which means it's endemic there.
What Wyrilda Looks Like
This shrub usually grows to be about 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) tall. It has a wide, spreading top that looks a bit like an umbrella. Often, several stems grow up from the base, forming a thick, leafy cover.
The branches are smooth and have a reddish-brown color. The bark on the main stems is grey and has small cracks near the bottom.
Instead of regular leaves, wyrilda has special flattened stems called phyllodes. These phyllodes are green and shaped like a spear, but a bit slanted. They are about 7 to 14 cm (2.8 to 5.5 in) long and 5 to 25 mm (0.20 to 0.98 in) wide.
Wyrilda flowers don't bloom at a set time, but usually between June and September. They produce bright yellow flowers. These flowers grow in clusters, either alone or in groups of up to ten. Each flower cluster is quite large and can have between 40 and 60 pale yellow flowers.
After the flowers, thick, dark brown seed pods grow. These pods are long and narrow, about 10 to 25 cm (3.9 to 9.8 in) long and 10 to 15 mm (0.39 to 0.59 in) wide. They can be straight or slightly curved.
How Wyrilda Got Its Name
Scientists Joseph Maiden and William Blakely were the first to officially describe this plant in 1927. They wrote about it in a science journal.
The second part of the plant's scientific name, confluens, comes from a Latin word. It means "flowing into." This name was chosen because of how the main vein in the plant's phyllodes seems to join with the edge.
Where Wyrilda Grows
You can find wyrilda in South Australia. It grows in the northern part of the Flinders Ranges, from a place called Mount Lyndhurst all the way east to Arkaroola. It's also found in the Tirari Desert and Sturt Stony Desert areas.
This plant likes to grow in rocky areas, like in small valleys (called gullies) and on stony hillsides. It prefers thin, chalky soils. Wyrilda is often part of tall shrubland communities, which are areas with many different types of shrubs.
