Acacia mearnsii |
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black wattle |
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Habit | Shrubs or small trees, erect, to 10 m. Twigs dark purplish brown to black, slightly flexuous, ridged, puberulent. |
Leaves | compound, 50–140 mm; petiole 5–30 mm, puberulent, gland present, below proximalmost pinna pair, 0.7–1.5 mm diam., puberulent; rachis glands scattered, with some between pinna pairs (at pinna pair nodes and internodes); pinnae 7–31 pairs, 15–70 mm, 3–7 mm between pinna pairs; leaflets 20–70 pairs per pinna, blades linear, 1.5–3.5 × 0.5–0.8 mm, base cuneate, apex obtuse, not apiculate, surfaces puberulent. |
Inflorescences | globose heads, densely flowered, 5–9 mm diam., in axillary pseudoracemes of 20–35 heads or terminal pseudopanicles of 1–10 pseudoracemes. |
Peduncles | 4–9 mm. |
Flowers | 5-merous, pale yellow to cream; calyx 0.6–1.1 mm; corolla 1.4–2 mm; filaments 3.5–4.5 mm; ovary glabrous. |
Legumes | flattened, linear, 30–140 × 4–8 mm, slightly constricted between seeds. |
Seeds | aril light yellow, obovate, 1–2 mm, forming cap on seed. |
2n | = 26. |
Acacia mearnsii |
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Phenology | Flowering spring, early summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas. |
Elevation | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; se Australia [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Acacia mearnsii is known from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara counties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (Mimosoid clade) > Acacia |
Sibling taxa | |
Name authority | De Wildeman: Pl. Bequaert. 3: 61. (1925) — (as mearnsi) |
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