Brown's wattle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brown's wattle |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Acacia
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| Species: |
browniana
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Acacia browniana, also known as Brown's wattle, is a special type of shrub. It belongs to the Acacia plant family, which is famous for its many different wattles. This plant grows naturally in the South West and Peel areas of Western Australia.
What Brown's Wattle Looks Like
This shrub usually grows to be about 0.2 to 2 meters (less than a foot to about 6.5 feet) tall. Its leaves are quite interesting! They have small leaf parts, called pinnae, that grow in pairs along the branches. The pinnae closer to the stem are short, about 1 to 4 millimeters long. The ones further out can be longer, from 2 to 30 millimeters.
Brown's wattle blooms from May to November, showing off its lovely cream-yellow flowers. These flowers grow in simple clusters, with one or two clusters appearing where the leaves meet the stem. Each flower cluster is round, or sometimes a bit oval-shaped. They are small, about 4 to 6 millimeters across, and each cluster has 12 to 21 tiny flowers.
After the flowers fade, the plant forms green, smooth seed pods. These pods are long and narrow, measuring about 1 to 4.5 centimeters (0.4 to 1.8 inches) in length and 5 to 9 millimeters (0.2 to 0.35 inches) wide. Inside these pods are brown seeds that are oval-shaped and about 2 to 4 millimeters long.
How Brown's Wattle is Grouped
The Brown's wattle was first officially described by a botanist named Heinrich Wendland in 1819. Botanists are scientists who study plants. He wrote about it in a work called Flora: oder Allgemeine Botanischer Zeitund.
Sometimes, plants can have other names, which are called synonyms. For Brown's wattle, some old names include Acacia strigosa and Racosperma brownianum.
Scientists have found that there are five slightly different types, or varieties, of Brown's wattle:
- Acacia browniana var. browniana
- Acacia browniana var. endlicheri
- Acacia browniana var. glaucescens
- Acacia browniana var. intermedia
- Acacia browniana var. obscura
Where Brown's Wattle Grows
You can find Brown's wattle in wet places across southwestern Western Australia. It often grows near streams and rivers, but also on flat lands, hills, and among large granite rocks. Its range stretches from places like Bindoon and Mogumber in the north, all the way down the coast to Augusta in the south, and even to Manypeaks. This plant likes to grow in sandy, loamy, or gravelly soils, especially if they contain a type of reddish soil called laterite.
