Acacia glaucissima


Acacia glaucissima is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading, glabrous shrub with narrowly elliptic to oblong or lance-shaped phyllodes with the narrower end towards the base, spherical heads of golden yellow flowers and twisted to coiled black pods.

Description

Acacia glaucissima is a dense, spreading, glabrous shrub that typically grows to a height of and has terete, more or less ribbed branchlets. Its phyllodes are narrowly elliptic to oblong or lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, sometimes egg-shaped or elliptic, more or less wavy or twisted, long and wide. The phyllodes have a coarse to sharp point, thickly leathery and smooth, very glaucous with the midrib and edge veins prominent and a gland mostly above the pulvinus. There are brittle stipules long at the base of the phyllodes.
The flowers are borne in two spherical heads in racemes in axils on a peduncle long, each head in diameter with 20 to 35 golden yellow flowers. The pods are irregularly twisted to loosely coiled, terete, up to long and wide, thinly leathery to slightly crusty and black. The seeds are oblong, long, almost bright dark brown with a conical to helmet-shaped aril.

Taxonomy

Acacia glaucissima was first formally described in 1999 by Bruce Maslin in the journal Nuytsia from specimens he collected south of Salmon Gums near the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway in 1989. The specific epithet means 'blue-tinged', referring to the phyllodes.

Distribution and habitat

This species of wattle occurs from near Mount Madden to near Mount Heywood, but mainly occurs between Salmon Gums and Grass Patch and east to Mount Heywood. It grows in sand or on clay flats in open woodland with low scrub or low heath in the Mallee bioregion of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Acacia glaucissima is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.