Acacia spectrum, also known as Kimberley ghost wattle, is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is endemic to arid parts of north western Australia.
| Acacia spectrum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
| Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
| Genus: | Acacia |
| Species: | A. spectrum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia spectrum Lewington & Maslin
| |
Description
editThe shrub typically grows to a height of 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) and has slender stems, pendulous branched and an open habit with a wispy and open crown. It has glabrous branchlets with caducous stipules that are often covered in a fine white and powdery coating. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The evergreen and glabrous phyllodes have a filiform shape and are straight to slightly incurved with a length of 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in) and a width of 1.5 to 2 mm (0.059 to 0.079 in) and have four yellowish longitudinal nerves.[2]
Taxonomy
editThe species was first formally named as Acacia spectra by the botanists Margaret A. Lewington and Bruce Maslin in 2009 as a part of the work Three new species of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) from the Kimberley Region, Western Australia as published in the journal Nuytsia.[3][4] The holotype was collected in 2005 below sandstone cliffs along the Mitchell River. It grew abundantly in shrubland habitat with Acacia deltoidea, Acacia kelleri, and Grevillea cunninghamii.[3]
Distribution
editIt is native to a small area of the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia.[1] where it is limited to two separate populations situated approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) apart in the Mitchell River National Park where it is situated among sandstone outcrops growing in shallow sandy soils as a part of mixed shrubland communities[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Acacia spectrum". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b "Acacia spectrum Lewington & Maslin". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ a b Lewington, M. A. & Maslin, B. R. 2009. Three new species of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) from the Kimberley Region, Western Australia. Nuytsia 19(1): 63–75.
- ^ "Acacia spectrum Lewington & Maslin". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 19 September 2020.