Acacia helicophylla

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Fabales

Familia: Fabaceae
Subfamilia: Caesalpinioideae
Tribus: Acacieae
Genus: Acacia
Species: Acacia helicophylla
Name

Acacia helicophylla Pedley, 1974
Synonyms

Racosperma helicophyllum (Pedley) Pedley

Distribution
Native distribution areas:
Acacia helicophylla

Continental: Australasia
Regional: Australia
Northern Territory

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Pedley, L., 1974, Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium 15: 11.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Acacia helicophylla in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Aug 04. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Acacia helicophylla. Published online. Accessed: Aug 04 2019.
Tropicos.org 2019. Acacia helicophylla. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 04 Aug 2019.
Hassler, M. Aug. Acacia helicophylla. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. Aug. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: Aug 04 {{{3}}}. Reference page.

Vernacular names

Acacia helicophylla is a shrub belonging to the genus Acacia and the subgenus Juliflorae that is native to northern Australia.

Description

The shrub typically grows to a maximum height of 4 m (13 ft). It has red-brown to blackish coloured minni ritchi style bark peels in long slender strips. The densely haired branchlets are mostly terete with angular upper branchlets slightly and have wide irregular bands of resinous tissue. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The light green phyllodes have a narrowly oblong to oblanceolate shape that is undulate or spirally twisted. The hairy phyllodes have a length of 3.5 to 12.5 cm (1.4 to 4.9 in) and a width of 6 to 30 mm (0.24 to 1.18 in) and are narrower toward the base. They have six to eight longitudinal nerves with one prominent midnerve. It blooms between March and August producing golden flowers. The cylindrical flower-spikes occur singly or in pairs in the axils and have a length of 1.5 to 3.5 cm (0.59 to 1.38 in). Following flowering thinly coriaceous seed pods form that have a narrowly oblong shape and can be constricted between the seeds. The pods are 1.8 to 7 cm (0.71 to 2.76 in) in length and 5 to 10 mm (0.20 to 0.39 in) wide with fine hairs. The seeds within are arranged longitudinally. The dark brown swollen seeds have an elliptic shape and a length of 4.5 to 5.7 mm (0.18 to 0.22 in) with an orbicular areole.[1]
Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanist Leslie Pedley in 1974 as part of the work Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium. It was reclassified as Racosperma helicophylla in 2003 by Pedley then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006.[2]
Distribution

It is endemic to the top end of the Northern Territory where it is found in a tropical climate in a small area in Nitmiluk National Park between Katherine Gorge and Gunlom Falls where it is usually situated on steep hillsides and on sandstone cliffs where it is found among rocks growing in skeletal sandy soils.[1]
See also

List of Acacia species

References

"Acacia helicophylla Pedley". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
"Acacia helicophylla Pedley". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 28 October 2019.