Acacia verticillata |
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prickly moses, star acacia |
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Habit | Shrubs or small trees, erect, to 5 m. Twigs dark reddish brown, not flexuous, prominently ridged, glabrous or pubescent. |
Leaves | phyllodic; fascicled or whorled; phyllode quadrangular, straight, linear, acicular, 5–20 × 0.5–1.5 mm, venation parallel, midvein prominent, minor veins not obvious, apex acuminate, sharp-pointed, surfaces mostly glabrous; gland 1 (usually not obvious, disc-shaped), 3–6 mm distal to leaf base; pulvinus absent. |
Inflorescences | cylindrical spikes, densely flowered, 10–45 × 4–7 mm, solitary in leaf axils. |
Peduncles | 2–12 mm. |
Flowers | 5-merous, pale yellow; calyx 0.5–0.8 mm; corolla 1.1–1.6 mm; filaments 2.2–3.2 mm; ovary glabrous. |
Legumes | flattened, linear, 20–90 × 2.7–5 mm, not constricted between seeds. |
Seeds | aril light yellow, folded and thickened, forming cap on seed. |
2n | = 26. |
Acacia verticillata |
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Phenology | Flowering fall, winter. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas. |
Elevation | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; se Australia (including Tasmania) [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Acacia verticillata is known from Marin, Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara 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 | |
Synonyms | Mimosa verticillata |
Name authority | (L’Héritier) Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 4: 1049. (1806) |
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