Acacia verticillata |
Acacia cultriformis |
|
---|---|---|
prickly moses, star acacia |
knife acacia, knife-leaf wattle |
|
Habit | Shrubs or small trees, erect, to 5 m. Twigs dark reddish brown, not flexuous, prominently ridged, glabrous or pubescent. | Shrubs, erect, to 4 m. Twigs bluish to purplish, not flexuous, ridged, glabrous. |
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. |
phyllodic; phyllode flat, one side nearly straight, the other rounded or angled, inequilateral, often deltate to triangular, 10–30 × 5–15 mm, venation parallel, midvein prominent, minor veins not obvious, apex acute, apiculate, surfaces glabrous; gland 1, prominent, near widest part of leaf; pulvinus 0.3–1 mm. |
Inflorescences | cylindrical spikes, densely flowered, 10–45 × 4–7 mm, solitary in leaf axils. |
globose to slightly elongated heads, densely flowered, 3–7 mm, in pseudoracemes of 5–20 heads, usually solitary in distal leaf axils. |
Peduncles | 2–12 mm. |
2–5 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. |
5-merous, golden yellow; calyx 0.5–0.9 mm; corolla 1.3–1.8 mm; filaments 2.7–3.5 mm; ovary glabrous. |
Legumes | flattened, linear, 20–90 × 2.7–5 mm, not constricted between seeds. |
flattened, linear, 40–90 × 5–8 mm, slightly constricted between some seeds. |
Seeds | aril light yellow, folded and thickened, forming cap on seed. |
aril white, club-shaped, from base. |
2n | = 26. |
|
Acacia verticillata |
Acacia cultriformis |
|
Phenology | Flowering fall, winter. | Flowering winter–summer. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas. | Disturbed areas. |
Elevation | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) | 0–150 m. (0–500 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; se Australia (including Tasmania) [Introduced in North America]
|
CA; e Australia [Introduced in North America] |
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.) |
Acacia cultriformis is known from Los Angeles, Marin, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (Mimosoid clade) > Acacia | Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (Mimosoid clade) > Acacia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Mimosa verticillata | |
Name authority | (L’Héritier) Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 4: 1049. (1806) | A. Cunningham ex G. Don: Gen. Hist. 2: 406. (1832) |
Web links |