Overview
Interesting Facts
Description
Subfamily Mimosoideae
Mostly trees or shrubs . Leaves mostly bipinnate. Corolla usually not showy, actinomorphic , sympetalous , the lobes valvate . Stamens 10-numerous, often monadelphous , showy. Pollen released in monads , tetrads , or polyads . Seeds with u-shaped line (pleurogram) present. [Carr]
Genus Acacia
Trees
, shrubs
, rarely herbs, often prickly or spinose
. Leaves bipinnate; leaflets
small and numerous
or leaves reduced to phyllodes; petiolar
glands
often present; stipules generally spinescent
. Inflorescence cylindric
spike or globose
head
; peduncle solitary axillary
or fasciculate or paniculate
at the end of branches; bracts often two, scale like, situated on the peduncle at various levels. Flowers small, 3-5-merous, bisexual
or plants
polygamous. Calyx campanulate
, dentate
, lobed
or polysepalous
. Petals usually more or less united
, rarely absent. Stamens indefinite, free
or shortly and irregularly connate
at the base
; anthers
small, eglandular
. Ovary sessile or stipitate
, with 2 or more ovules. Fruit ovate
to linear
, straight, arcuate
or contorted, membranous to woody, rarely articulated or moniliform
. Seed large, with a filiform
funicle
or fleshy
aril.
A genus with about 900 species; distributed mainly in tropics and subtropics, especially in Africa and Australia.[1]
Physical Description
Species Acacia senegal var. Leiorhachis
In the field , A. senegal can develop various very different growth forms . A. senegal var. rostrata and A. senegal var. kerensis only form low shrubs with flat crowns (although A. senegal var. rostrata can also form a small tree in southern Africa ); whereas A. senegal var. senegal and A. senegal var. leiorhachis can develop into larger trees to 12 metres high (although A. senegal var. leiorhachis can also form a low bush with tall whippy stems that can reach 15 metres). The bark on the main trunk is yellowish to grey or greyish brown, rough and fissured or smooth and papery and peeling off in strips. Has prickles 2-8 mm long, grouped in threes at the nodes (leaf axils ), with the central one hooked downwards and the two laterals more or less curved upwards, or a single prickle with the laterals absent. It has a relatively shallow root system ; it can develop both tap root and lateral root systems depending on site conditions, and extended lateral roots under sandy conditions provide soil stabilization.
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Rosanae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Fabales
(
)
- Bromhead, 1838
- Family:
Leguminosae
(
)
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Subfamily:
Mimosoideae
(
)
- Subfamily:
Mimosoideae
(
- Family:
Leguminosae
(
- Order:
Fabales
(
- Superorder:
Rosanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Place of publication
: Kew Bull
. 1953:98. 1953
Name
verified on 08-Aug-1996 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last
updated: 17-Jul-2007
Similar Species
Members of the genus Acacia
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 497 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:
A. abyssinica (Nyanga Flat-Top) · A. acanthoclada (Harrow Wattle) · A. acanthoclada var. glaucescens (Harrow Wattle) · A. acinacea (Gold Dust Wattle) · A. aculeaticarpa (Catclaw Mimosa) · A. aculeatissima (Thin-Leaf Wattle) · A. acuminata (Raspberry Jam) · A. acuminata acuminata (Raspberry Jam) · A. adunca (Wallangarra Wattle) · A. alata (Winged Wattle) · A. albicorticata (Aromo) · A. albizioides (Climbing Wattle) · A. alpina (Alpine Wattle) · A. amblygona (Fan Wattle) · A. amoena (Boomerang Wattle) · A. ampliceps (Acacia) · A. ancistrophylla var. lissophylla (Dwarf Myall) · A. anegadensis (Blackbrush Wattle) · A. aneura (Mulga) · A. angustissima (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. angustissima (Prairie Acacia) · A. angustissima var. chisosiana (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. hirta (Prairie Acacia) · A. angustissima var. shrevei (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. suffrutescens (Carboncillo) · A. angustissima var. texensis (Carboncillo) · A. anomala (Chittering Grass Wattle) · A. anthochaera (Kimberly's Wattle) · A. aphylla (Leafless Rock Wattle) · A. applanata (Grass Wattle) · A. araneosa (Balcanoona Wattle) · A. argutifolia (East Barrens Wattle) · A. argyrodendron (Blackwood) · A. argyrophylla (Silver Mulga) · A. aroma (Aromita) · A. aroma var. huarango (Aromita) · A. aspera (Rough Wattle) · A. atramentaria (Brea) · A. aulacocarpa (New Guinea Wattle) · A. auricoma (Nyalpilintji Wattle) · A. auriculiformis (Auri) · A. auripila (Rudall River Myall) · A. ausfeldii (Whipstick Cinnamon Wattle) · A. baeuerlenii (Wattle Shrub) · A. baileyana (Bailey Acacia) · A. baileyana 'Purpurea' (Baileys Purple Acacia) · A. bakeri (Baker's Wattle) · A. balsamea (Balsam Wattle) · A. barakulensis (Waaje Wattle) · A. barattensis (Baratta Wattle) · A. barringtonensis (Barrington Wattle) · A. basedowii (Basedow's Wattle) · A. baueri (Tiny Wattle) · A. baxteri (Baxter's Wattle) · A. beckleri (Barrier Range Wattle) · A. berlandieri (Berlandier Acacia) · A. betchei (Red-Tip Wattle) · A. bidwillii (Corkwood Wattle) · A. biflora (Two-Flowered Acacia) · A. binervata (Two-Veined Hickory) · A. binervia (Coast Myall) · A. bivenosa (Two Nerved Wattle) · A. blaxellii (Blaxell's Wattle) · A. boormanii (Snowy River Wattle) · A. borleae (Sticky Acacia) · A. brachybotrya (Grey Mulga) · A. brevispica dregeana (Prickly Thorn) · A. browniana (Brown's Wattle) · A. brownii (Heath Wattle) · A. brunioides (Brown Wattle) · A. burbidgeae (Burbidge's Wattle) · A. burrowii (Burrow's Wattle) · A. buxifolia (Box-Leaved Wattle) · A. buxifolia buxifolia (Box-Leaved Wattle) · A. buxifolia pubiflora (Box-Leaved Wattle) · A. bynoeana (Bynoe's Wattle) · A. caerulescens (Buchan Blue Wattle) · A. caesiella (Blue Bush) · A. caffra (Cat Thorn) · A. calamifolia (Wallowa) · A. calcicola (Northern Myall) · A. cambagei (Stinking Wattle) · A. cana (Broad-Leaved Nealie) · A. cardiophylla (West Wyalong Wattle) · A. carneorum (Purple-Wood Wattle) · A. catechu (Black Cutch) · A. catechu var. oligosperma (Black Catechu) · A. catechu var. sundra (Cutch Tree) · A. caven (Aromita) · A. caven var. caven (Roman-Cassie) · A. celastrifolia (Celastrus-Leaved Acacia) · A. centralis (Guache) · A. chalkeri (Chalker's Wattle) · A. cheelii (Motherumbah) · A. chinchillensis (Chinchilla Wattle) · A. chippendalei (Chippendale's Wattle) · A. chisholmii (Chisholm's Wattle) · A. choriophylla (Cinnecord) · A. chundra (Red Cutch) · A. citrinoviridis (River Jam)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Dyer, R. A. et al., eds. 1963–. Flora of southern Africa. (F SAfr)
- Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960–. Flora zambesiaca. (F Zamb)
- Ross, J. H. 1979. A conspectus of the African Acacia species. Mem. Bot. Surv. S. Africa 44:57.
- Timberlake, J. et al. 1999. Field guide to the acacias of Zimbabwe. (FG Acacia Zimbabwe)
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
- USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (May 04, 2008)
Identifiers
- GRIN Nomen Number: 405651
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1035417
Footnotes
- "Acacia". in Flora of Pakistan. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
