Baxter's wattle | |
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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. baxteri
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Binomial name | |
Acacia baxteri | |
Acacia baxteri occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium [3] |
Acacia baxteri, commonly known as Baxter's wattle, is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Phyllodineae, and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia.
The compact and pungent shrub typically grows to a height of 0.2 to 1 metre (1 to 3 ft). It blooms from September to December and produces yellow flowers. [4] The shrub has rigid, striate-ribbed and glabrous branchlets. The thick rigid phyllodes are sessile, with a narrowly linear to oblong-elliptic shape and are around 10 to 25 millimetres (0.39 to 0.98 in) in length with a width of 1 to 4 mm (0.04 to 0.16 in). There is one simple inflorescence per axil with globular flower heads containing 30 to 50 flowers. After flowering curved woody red-brown seed pods form that are up to 6.5 millimetres (0.26 in) long and 3 to 5 mm (0.12 to 0.20 in). The grey-brown seeds have an oblong shape and are 5 to 6 mm (0.20 to 0.24 in) in length.
The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1842 in the work Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species. as published in London Journal of Botany. [1] [2] There are two recognised synonyms for A. baxteri; Acacia bagsteri as described by George Bentham and Racosperma baxteri as described by Leslie Pedley. [5]
It is closely related to Acacia andrewsii and has phyllodes that are quite similar to Acacia unifissilis. [6]
The species epithet, baxteri, commemorates Bagster [2] ( William Baxter). [7]
It is native to an area in the Wheatbelt and the Great Southern regions of Western Australia. [4] The population is disjunct with most found between Ongerup and Albany with scattered populations found further north. The shrub is commonly found s part of Eucalyptus woodlands or open mallee heath communities. [6]