Box-leaf wattle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Box-leaf wattle
Scientific classification
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	buxifolia
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms
Racosperma buxifolium (A.Cunn.) Pedley

Acacia buxifolia, commonly known as box-leaf wattle, is shrub species that is endemic to eastern Australia.

Description

The medium sized evergreen shrub grows to a height of 1 to 4 m (3 ft 3 in to 13 ft 1 in) and a width of 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) . The plant has an erect habit with glabrous, flattened and angled branchlets. It has phyllodes that are 10 to 45 mm (0.39 to 1.77 in) in length and 2 to 11 mm (0.079 to 0.433 in) wide. The bright yellow spherical flowerheads appear in groups of 2 to 14 in the axils of the phyllodes from July to November in the species' native range, followed by straight or curved seed pods which are 30 to 70 mm (1.2 to 2.8 in) long and 5 to 8 mm (0.20 to 0.31 in).

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist Allan Cunningham in 1825 as part of the work On the Botany of the Blue Mountains. Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales. It was reclassified as Racosperma buxifolium in 1987 by Leslie Pedley and transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006. Two subspecies are known;

• Acacia buxifolia subsp. buxifolia
• Acacia buxifolia subsp. pubiflora.

Distribution

The species occurs in dry sclerophyll forest, woodland or heath in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. It is typically found on hills, slopes and plains inland from the coast and grows in sandy, clay or loam soils.