Velvet wattle
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. fulva
Binomial name
Acacia fulva
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms

Racosperma fulvum (Tindale) Pedley

Acacia fulva, known colloquially as velvet wattle or soft wattle, is a species of Acacia native to eastern Australia.[1]

Acacia fulva grows as a shrub or tree, ranging anywhere from 1.5 to 15 m in height. Young trees have smooth grey-green bark, which darkens and becomes rough and fissured with age. New growth is covered in red-brown velvety hairs.[2] The silver-grey leaves are pinnate, with 4-12 pairs of pinnae, each 3-7.5 cm long. Each pinna in turn is made up of 11 to 28 pairs of 3–10 mm-long pinnules. Flowering occurs from November till June, the yellow flowerheads arranged in axillary and terminal panicles or racemes. Each small round flower head is composed of 20 to 40 individual flowers. Flowering is followed by the development of the 2–12 cm-long leathery seed pods,[1] which are ripe between April and November.[3]

Specimens of Acacia fulva were previously assigned to the species A. mollifolia until Mary Tindale described it as a separate species in 1966.[2] Queensland botanist Les Pedley reclassified the species as Racosperma fulvum in 2003 amongst debate over the best way to deal with Acacia sensu lato's polyphyletic definition.[4] When the dust settled, Acacia had been restricted to Australian species, returning A. fulva to its original name.

It is found on soils derived from sandstone and basalt that are high in nutrients. It grows in woodland, associated with such species as forest red gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), grey box (E. moluccana), and narrow-leaved ironbark (E. crebra), and shrubs such as dogwood (Jacksonia scoparia), Exocarpus, Clerodendrum, Clematis and Senecio.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Harden, Gwen J. (1990). "Acacia fulva Tindale". Plantnet - New South Wales Flora Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 Kodela, Phillip G. (2001). "Acacia". In Wilson, Annette; Orchard, Anthony E. (eds.). Flora of Australia. Vol. 11A, 11B, Part 1: Mimosaceae, Acacia. CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-643-06718-9.
  3. 1 2 Benson, Doug; McDougall, Lyn (1996). "Ecology of Sydney Plant Species Part 4: Dicotyledon family Fabaceae" (PDF). Cunninghamia. 4 (4): 552–752 [707]. ISSN 0727-9620. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-16. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  4. ↑ Pedley, Les (2003). "A synopsis of Racosperma C.Mart. (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae)". Austrobaileya. 6 (3): 445–96.
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