Acacia hexaneura

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 hexaneura
Name

Acacia hexaneura P.J.Lang & R.S.Cowan
References

J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 13: 115. 1990

Acacia hexaneura, also known as Cowell spine-bush[1] or the six-nerve spine-bush,[2] is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves that is endemic to parts of South Australia.[3]

Description

The rigid and prickly shrub often has a roughly rounded habit and grows to a maximum height about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and a width of 2 m (6 ft 7 in). Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The phyllodes are attached directly by the base to the branchlet are rigid, straight or slightly recurved. The compressed phyllodes have a length of around 17 mm (0.67 in) and a width of 2 mm (0.079 in) with six distinct veins, one of each margin and two on each face. The veins quite raised from the surface with well-defined ridges. It blooms between July and September producing simple inflorescences with spherical golden-yellow flower-heads.[1]
Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by the botanists Richard Sumner Cowan and P.J.Lang in 1990 as part of the work Plant Portraits as published in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. It was reclassified as Racosperma hexaneurum by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006.[2] The specific epithet is derived from the Greek words hex meaning six and neura meaning nerves in reference to the six nerves running along the length of the phyllodes.[1]
Distribution

The shrub has a limited distribution in the north eastern part of the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia from around Kimba and Cowell where it is usually situated on small quartzite hills often combined with limestone or ironstone bedrock and growing in gravelly loams and sandy soils that are well drained.[1]
See also

List of Acacia species

References

"Acacia hexaneura (Leguminosae) Cowell Spine-bush". Seeds of South Australia. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
"Acacia hexaneura P.J.Lang & R.S.Cowan Six-Nerve Spine-Bush". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
"Acacia hexaneura P.Lang & R.S.Cowan". Wattle - Acacias of Australia. Lucid Central. Retrieved 19 September 2020.