Acacia toondulya facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Toondulya wattle |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Acacia
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| Species: |
toondulya
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The Toondulya wattle (Acacia toondulya) is a special type of tree found only in southern Australia. It belongs to a large group of plants called Acacia, which are often known as wattles. This tree was officially named by M.O'Leary.
What Does the Toondulya Wattle Look Like?
This tree usually grows to about 3 meters (10 feet) tall. It stands upright and looks a bit wispy. Its small branches, called branchlets, are smooth and covered in a fine white powder. These branchlets are also angled at their ends.
Like most Acacia species, the Toondulya wattle has phyllodes instead of true leaves. Phyllodes are flattened leaf stems that look and act like leaves. These green phyllodes are shaped like an oval or a wider oval, and they stay on the tree all year. They are usually 3 to 12 centimeters long and 1 to 3 millimeters wide. You can see clear veins along their edges and a main vein down the middle.
The Toondulya wattle blooms between June and September. It produces round or oval-shaped flower-heads that grow from the leaf bases or in clusters. Each flower-head is packed with 80 to 106 bright yellow flowers.
After the flowers, seed pods grow. These pods are narrow and oblong, with bumps over each seed. The pods are firm but slightly leathery, measuring 30 to 50 millimeters long and 9 to 13 millimeters wide. Inside, the seeds are arranged sideways. They are oblong-shaped, 4 to 7 millimeters long, and dark red-brown. Each seed has a special fleshy part called an aril, which helps with seed dispersal.
Where Does the Toondulya Wattle Grow?
The Toondulya wattle is endemic, meaning it grows naturally only in a small area of South Australia. You can find it in the southwestern part of the Gawler Ranges in the north. It also grows on the Eyre Peninsula in the south, extending to the southern parts of the Tothill Ranges.
This tree lives on rocky hills. It can be found from Toondulya Bluff in the west to the hills near Hiltaba in the east. It also grows down to Lake Acraman in the south. The hills where it lives are made of granite and shale. The Toondulya wattle prefers loamy soils and grows as part of open shrubland or Triodia grassland communities.
