Acacia linarioides facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Acacia linarioides |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Acacia
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| Species: |
linarioides
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Acacia linarioides is a type of shrub, which is a small, bushy plant. It belongs to a large group of plants called Acacia, also known as wattles. This particular acacia is found naturally only in the northern parts of Australia.
What is Acacia linarioides?
What Does This Shrub Look Like?
This special shrub usually grows up to about 2.5 meters (8 feet) tall. It tends to spread out and has a sticky, resin-like feel. Its bark is dark grey and smooth. The branches are angular and glabrous, which means they are smooth and hairless.
Like most Acacia plants, it doesn't have true leaves. Instead, it has what are called phyllodes. These are flattened leaf stalks that look and act like leaves.
The Acacia linarioides blooms with beautiful golden flowers. You can see these flowers between January and July. The flowers grow in long, cylinder-shaped spikes. Each spike is about 2 to 4.5 centimeters (0.8 to 1.8 inches) long. They grow by themselves in the axils, which is the angle between a leaf (or phyllode) and the stem. These spikes are packed tightly with bright golden flowers.
After the flowers, curved and twisted seed pods begin to form. These pods are squeezed in between the seeds and are raised over them. The pods can be from 3.5 to 10 centimeters (1.4 to 3.9 inches) long. They are quite narrow, only about 1.5 to 3 millimeters (0.06 to 0.12 inches) wide. Inside, the seeds are arranged lengthwise. The seeds themselves are dark brown or black. They have a long, oval shape and are about 2.3 to 2.8 millimeters (0.09 to 0.11 inches) long. Each seed has a closed areole, which is a small, often colored, area on the seed's surface.
Where Does This Shrub Grow?
This Acacia is endemic to a specific area. This means it grows naturally only in that one place and nowhere else in the world. For Acacia linarioides, that special place is the Top End of the Northern Territory in Australia. You can also find it on a few islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
It likes to grow in rocky areas. You might see it in cracks in rocks, on high flat areas called plateaus, or next to creeks. It prefers thin, sandy soils that are based on sandstone.
