Acacia ampliceps, commonly known as salt wattle or spring wattle,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the north-west of Australia. It is a large, bushy shrub or small tree with often pendulous branches, pendulous, linear to lance-shaped phyllodes, white to cream-coloured flowers arranged in spherical heads, and pods up to 115 mm (4.5 in) long.
| Salt wattle | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. ampliceps
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| Binomial name | |
| Acacia ampliceps | |
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| Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Racosperma ampliceps (Maslin) Pedley | |
Description
editAcacia ampliceps is a bushy shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft), sometimes to 6–7 m (20–23 ft) or higher or sometimes a prostrate shrub. Its branchlets are glabrous, yellow-coloured, and often pendulous. The phyllodes are usually pendulous, variably shaped but often linear to lance-shaped, 70–250 mm (2.8–9.8 in) long and 7–30 mm (0.28–1.18 in) wide with a prominent vein and 2 glands with one of them up to 3 mm (0.12 in) above the pulvinus. The flowers are arranged in 2 to 11 heads racemes up to 100 mm (3.9 in) long, on a peduncle 5–20 mm (0.20–0.79 in) long, in the axils or on the ends of branches. Each head contains 25 to 50 white to creamy-coloured flowers. Flowering occurs from May to September, and the fruit is a pod up to 115 mm (4.5 in) long and 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) wide, and appearing somewhat like a string of beads. The seeds are oblong, greyish brown to black with a scarlet aril.[2][3][4][5][6]
Taxonomy
editAcacia ampliceps was first formally described by Bruce Maslin in 1974 in the journal Nuytsia from specimens he collected near the Sandfire Roadhouse in 1972.[4][7] The specific epithet (ampliceps) means 'large head', alluding to the flower heads.[2]
Distribution
editSalt wattle is native to areas south of Wooramel through the Pilbara district, the Great Sandy Desert and the southern Kimberley region in Western Australia, and east to Mataranka and Renner Springs in the Northern Territory.[2][5] It occurs along watercourses and in floodplains, on coastal sand dunes, and salt flats, growing in sandy soils.[5][6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Acacia ampliceps". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia ampliceps". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ "Acacia ampliceps salt wattle". World Wide Wattle. CSIRO publishing. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ a b Maslin, Bruce R. (1974). "Studies in the genus Acacia - 2 - Miscellaneous new phyllodinous species". Nuytsia. 1 (4): 315–318. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Acacia ampliceps". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Acacia ampliceps". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Acacia ampliceps". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 14 July 2024.