Acacia gonocarpa
Acacia gonocarpa commonly known as wuluru, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the northern Australia. It is an erect, many-stemmed, spindly or spreading shrub or tree, with linear to narrowly elliptic phyllodes, spikes of pale yellow or cream-coloured flowers and more or less woody, dark brown pods.
Description
Acacia gonocarpa is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to, sometimes a tree to, and is spindly or spreading with many stems, often with drooping branches and a sparse canopy. Its bark is smooth but finely fissured at the base. The phyllodes are linear to narrowly elliptic, long and wide, sometimes in groups of two or three, each with a prominent midvein. There are linear, white stipules at the base of the phyllodes. The flowers are pale yellow to cream-coloured and borne in up to three spikes up to long in axils. Flowering occurs from October to February, and the pods are straight or curved, long and wide, more or less woody and dark brown with wings wide and often convoluted. The seeds are brown with a conical aril.
Taxonomy
Acacia gonocarpa was first formally described in 1859 by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany. The specific epithet means 'angle-fruited'.
Distribution
Wuluru is found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the Top End of the Northern Territory. It grows in woodland, sometimes with Melaleuca nervosa, on the top of sandstone escarpments or on the lower slopes of alluvial fans, on sandy, gravelly soil.
Conservation status
Acacia gonocarpa is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, and as of "least concern" under the Northern Territory Government Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act.