Acacia depressa
| Echidna wattle | |
|---|---|
| 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. depressa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Acacia depressa | |
| Occurrence data from AVH | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Acacia depressa, commonly known as echidna wattle,[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dense, prostrate, prickly shrub with more or less glabrous, bipinnate leaves, spherical heads of light golden yellow flowers and narrowly oblong, firmly papery pods.
Description
Acacia depressa is a dense, prostrate, prickly, mat-forming shrub that typically grows to 5 cm (0.2 ft) high and 50 cm (20 in) wide and has spiny branchlets with soft hairs pressed against the surface. The leaves are bipinnate and more or less glabrous with one pair of pinnae 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long, each pinna with 3 to 4 pairs of narrowly oblong to oblong pinnules 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long and about 1 mm (0.039 in) wide. The flowers are borne in a spherical head in axils on a peduncle 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long, each head 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) in diameter with 12 to 15 light golden yellow flowers. Flowering occurs in December and January, and the pods are narrowly oblong, 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long, about 3 mm (0.12 in) wide and more or less firmly papery.[3][4][5][6]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1972 by Bruce Maslin, who gave it the name Acacia echinata in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected "6 mi (9.7 km) east of Kukerin" by Kenneth Newbey in 1964, but that name was illegitimate because it was used for a separate taxon named by George Don.[7][8] In 1975, Maslin changed the name to Acacia depressa in a later edition of the same journal.[4][9] The specific epithet (depressa) means 'pressed down', referring to the low habit of this species.[10]
Distribution and habitat
Echidna wattle is restricted to an area around Lake Grace in the mallee bioregion of Western Australia, where it usually grows on low rocky hills and rises in gravelly lateritic soils, in low shrubland or open heath.[11][5]
Conservation status
Acacia depressa is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,[1] and as "threatened" under the Western Australian Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Acacia depressa — Echidna Wattle". Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy the Environment and Water. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ a b "Acacia depressa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
- ^ a b Maslin, Bruce R. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia depressa". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ a b Maslin, Bruce R. (1975). "Studies in the genus Acacia (Mimosaceae) - 4 A Revision of Series Pulchellae". Nuytsia. 1 (5): 422–423. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ a b "Acacia depressa Maslin". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- ^ "Acacia depressa". World Wide Wattle. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ Maslin, Bruce R. (1972). "Studies in the genus Acacia - 1". Nuytsia. 1 (3): 256–257. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ "Acacia echinata". APNI. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ "Acacia depressa". APNI. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 183. ISBN 9780645629538.
- ^ a b "Acacia depressa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.