Limestone blue wattle | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Caesalpinioideae |
Clade: | Mimosoid clade |
Genus: | Acacia |
Species: | A. caerulescens
|
Binomial name | |
Acacia caerulescens | |
Occurrence data from AVH | |
Synonyms | |
Racosperma caerulescens (Maslin & Court) Pedley |
Acacia caerulescens, commonly known as limestone blue wattle, Buchan blue or Buchan blue wattle is a tree species that is endemic to south eastern Australia.
The tree grows to between 10 and 15 m (33 and 49 ft) in height and has a pyramidal habit with glabrous branchlets that have a fine white powdery coating. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The evergreen phyllodes have an obovate to oblanceolate or sometimes narrowly elliptic shape with a length of 4 to 8 cm (1.6 to 3.1 in) and a width of 1.5 to 3 mm (0.059 to 0.118 in). The lemon yellow globular flowerheads appear in racemes from November to December in the species' native range, followed by seed pods that are 5 to 12 cm long and 1.4 to 2.2 cm wide. [3]
The species was formally described in 1989 based on plant material collected near Buchan in Gippsland. [3] [4]
It has a limited distribution in Victoria where it is only found in the Lakes Entrance and Buchan areas. It is found as remnant populations mostly in clay soils over limestone as a part of Eucalyptus woodland communities. Its natural habitat is under threat of land clearing. [3]