- Acacia pulchella
Taxobox
color = lightgreen
name = Prickly Moses
regnum =Plantae
divisio =Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Fabales
familia =Fabaceae
genus = "Acacia "
species = "A. pulchella"
binomial = "Acacia pulchella"
binomial_authority = R.Br."Acacia pulchella", commonly known as prickly moses, is a shrub in the family
Fabaceae . Endemic toWestern Australia , it is one of the most common shrubs of the bushland around Perth and in the Darling Range.Prickly moses is one of only a small number of "
Acacia "species to have true leaves, rather thanphyllode s. It has feathery,bipinnate leaves with leaflets up to 5 mm long. At the base of each leaf is one or two spines. The flower heads are bright yellow and spherical, with a diameter of up to 1 cm. It flowers in late winter and early spring.The name "prickly moses" is said to be a corruption of "prickly mimosa".
Recent research suggests that "A. pulchella" may in some circumstances suppress the plant pathogen "
Phytophthora cinnamomi ". ["Western Wildlife", West Australian Dept. of Environment and Conservation, Vol. 10 No. 4, Oct. 2006 (reporting an unpublished PhD thesis, Jayasekera, Aruni, Murdoch University, Western Australia)]There are four recognised varieties:
* "A. p." var. "glaberrima"
* "A. p." var. "goadbyi"
* "A. p." var. "pulchella"
* "A. p." var. "reflexa"References
External links
*Flora of Australia Online|name=Acacia pulchella|id=1497
*FloraBase | name = Acacia pulchella | id = 3502
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
