Scaevola acacioides
Scaevola acacioides is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to the north of Western Australia. It is an erect, spreading shrub with sessile, narrowly oblong to elliptic leaves, hairy, white to cream-coloured flowers arranged singly or in groups and oval fruit.
Description
Scaevola acacioides is an erect, spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of and has hairy young parts. The leaves are sessile, narrowly oblong to elliptic, tapering towards the base, long and wide. The flowers are arranged in groups, sometimes single in leaf axils, on a peduncle long with Δ-shaped bracteoles long at the base. The sepals are wavy, about long and the petals are white to cream-coloured, long, covered with glandular hairs and densely bearded inside. It flowers in March, May or August and the fruit is oval, up to long, glabrous and black.
Taxonomy
Scaevola acacioides was first formally described in 1990 by Roger Carolin in the journal Telopea from specimens collected in Bee Gorge in the Wittenoom area in 1966. The specific epithet refers to "the superficial similarity of the leaves to the phyllodes of some Acacia species".
Distribution and habitat
This species of Scaevola grows in red, gravelly sandy soils in the Carnarvon, Gascoyne, and Pilbara bioregions of northern Western Australia.
Conservation status
Scaevola acacioides is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.