Acacia redolens

Acacia redolens, commonly known as bank catclaw, prostate acacia, or desert carpet,[1] is a shrub of the genus Acacia and the subgenus Plurinerves.

Acacia redolens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Clade:	Mimosoideae
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	A. redolens
Binomial name
Acacia redolens Maslin
Occurrence data from AVH

Description

Flowers close up

It is a dense, small to medium-sized shrub that usually reaches heights of 0.5 to 3, rarely up to 5 or even 7 meters. Vegetative parts of the plant and especially the yellow flowers give off an intense vanilla scent. The spreading fragrant shrub typically grows to a height of 0.5 to 3 metres (2 to 10 ft).

It blooms from August to October in its native range, and produces yellow flowers. The small flowers, whose optical effect is based on the yellow stamens, are located in the leaf axils. The brownish legumes are about 25 millimeters long and about 6 millimeters wide.

In California, it blooms from February through May (late winter to late spring). It is commonly planted by freeways and is found throughout Southern California and some parts of the Bay Area.[2]

Phylogeny

According to the Catalogue of Life, Acacia contains 1067 species. A 2014 phylogenetic study of Acacia in Australia suggests the following phylogenetic relationships:[3]

	A. cyclops A.Cunn. ex G.Don — coastal wattle     A. stenophylla A.Cunn. ex Benth. — shoestring acacia
	A. brachyclada W.Fitzg.       A. redolens Maslin — bank catclaw         A. georginae F.M.Bailey — georgina gidyea       A. argyrodendron Domin — black gidyea     A. harpophylla F.Muell. ex Benth. — brigalow           A. sclerophylla Lindl. — hard-leaf wattle               A. loderi Maiden — nelia       A. maconochieana Pedley — Mullan wattle     A. tephrina Pedley — boree           A. pendula A.Cunn. ex G.Don — true myall       A. cana Maiden — cabbage tree wattle       A. latzii Maslin — Tjilpi wattle     A. sibilans Maslin — whispering myall               A. melvillei Pedley — yarran     A. homalophylla A.Cunn. ex Benth. — yarran           A. maranoensis Pedley — womel     A. microsperma Pedley — bowyakka             A. amyctica R.S.Cowan & Maslin     A. ancistrophylla C.R.P.Andrews         A. enervia Maiden & Blakely     A. papyrocarpa Benth. — western myall

Distribution

It is native to an area along the southern coast in the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia.[4] The plant is considered an invasive weed in areas of California where it was used as a fast growing groundcover along freeways. It is particularly problematic in the San Gabriel Valley and Mission Valley.[1]

A. redolens thrives on salty or alkaline loamy, clayey, clayey-loamy or sandy soils and can be used as a groundcover. It occurs on the edges of salt lakes or in salty depressions and can withstand frost down to −7°C.

See also

• List of Acacia species

External links

• Atlas of Living Australia
• CalFlora
• Encyclopedia of Life
• FloraBase
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility
• iNaturalist
• Invasive.Org
• Jepson eFlora
• PlantNet
• USDA National Resources Conservation Service
• Useful Temperate Plants
• World Wide Wattle

References

1. "Acacia redolens" (PDF). Council for Watershed health. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
2. "Acacia redolens Maslin". Calflora. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
3. Mishler, Brent D.; Knerr, Nunzio; González-Orozco, Carlos E.; Thornhill, Andrew H.; Laffan, Shawn W.; Miller, Joseph T. (18 July 2014). "Phylogenetic measures of biodiversity and neo- and paleo-endemism in Australian Acacia". Nature Communications.
4. "Acacia redolens". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.