Acacia alata explained

Acacia alata, commonly known as winged wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a much-branched shrub, its phyllodes continuous with the branches and arranged on either side of them, flowers arranged in racemes of 2 spherical heads of white to golden-yellow flowers, and flat, curved, crusty pods long.

Description

Acacia alata is a much-branched shrub, typically growing to a height of with zig-zag branches. The phyllodes are continuous with the braches and are arranged on either side of them, wide, but narrowest in the flower-bearing regions. The free ends of the phyllodes are long, sometimes with a spiny tip. There are 1 to 3 prominent glands on a triangular spur. There are 1 or 2 spherical heads of flowers in axils on a peduncle long, the heads with 4 to 15 white to golden-coloured flowers. Flowering time varies with variety, and the fruit is a flat, curved pod, long and wide, crust-like and densely hairy containing oblong to elliptic seeds long with an aril on the end.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

Acacia alata was first formally described by Robert Brown in William Aiton's Hortus Kewensis.^{[3] [4]} The specific epithet (alata) means "winged".^[5]

The names of four varieties of A. alata are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:

• Acacia alata R.Br. var. alata^[6] is a shrub high with spiny stipules, the free portion of phyllodes long, and heads containing 6 to 10 flowers from May to December.^[7]
• Acacia alata var. biglandulosa Benth.^[8] is a shrub high, the free portion of phyllodes long, and heads containing 4 to 7 flowers mainly from June to September.^[9]
• Acacia alata var. platyptera (Lindl.) Meisn.^[10] is a shrub high with innocuous stipules, the free portion of phyllodes long, and heads containing 12 to 15 flowers from June to August.^[11]
• Acacia alata var. tetrantha Maslin^[12] is a shrub high, the free portion of phyllodes long, and heads containing 4 flowers from April to July.^[13]

Distribution and habitat

Acacia alata grows in a variety of soils near water, rocky hills, breakaways, slat pans and clay flats between Port Gregory and Albany in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

Variety alata often grows near creeks in forest and woodland and has a discontinous distribution, between Perth, Collie, Cape Naturaliste and Manjimup, between Denmark and Albany, with an outlier near Three Springs.

Variety biglandulosa grows in loam and sand, usually in heath, between Port Gregory and Mount Michael about south-east of Geraldton.

Variety platyptera grows in clay, loam or gravel in gullies, hills and flats near Mogumber, and var. tetrantha usually grows near watercourses in low, open forest and woodland between Eneabba and Cervantes with a disjunct population at Yanchep.

Conservation status

Acacia alata and three of its varieties are list as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, but var. platyptera is listed as "Priority Four" meaning that it is rare or near threatened.^[14]

Use in horticulture

This plant tolerates frosts to -7C.^[15]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Maslin . Bruce R. . Kodela . Phillip G. . Acacia alata . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 15 July 2024.
2. Web site: Acacia alata. 24 May 2024. World Wide Wattle. Western Australian Herbarium.
3. Web site: Acacia alata . APNI. 14 July 2024.
4. Book: Brown . Robert . Aiton . William . Hortus Kewensis . 1813 . Longman, Hurst, Orme and Brown . London . 464 . second . 15 July 2024.
5. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 129 . 3rd.
6. Web site: Acacia alata var. alata. Australian Plant Census . 14 July 2024.
7. Web site: Maslin . Bruce R. . Kodela . Phillip G. . Acacia alata var. alata . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 15 July 2024.
8. Web site: Acacia alata var. biglandulosa . Australian Plant Census . 14 July 2024.
9. Web site: Maslin . Bruce R. . Kodela . Phillip G. . Acacia alata var. biglandulosa . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 15 July 2024.
10. Web site: Acacia alata var. platyptera . Australian Plant Census . 14 July 2024.
11. Web site: Maslin . Bruce R. . Kodela . Phillip G. . Acacia alata var. platyptera . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 15 July 2024.
12. Web site: Acacia alata var. tetrantha . Australian Plant Census . 14 July 2024.
13. Web site: Maslin . Bruce R. . Kodela . Phillip G. . Acacia alata var. tetrantha . Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. . 15 July 2024.
14. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. 15 July 2024.
15. Web site: Australian National Botanic Gardens - Growing Acacia . anbg.gov.au . 2016-06-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160414160032/http://www.anbg.gov.au/acacia/species/A-alata.html . 2016-04-14 .