Acacia verticillata

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

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Plant information 

Common name:             Prickly Moses  

• Also, Prickly-leaved wattle; Star-leaved acacia; Prickly mimosa; Whorl-leaved acacia

Conservation status:  . . .

Etymology:   

•  Borrowed from Latin acacia, from Ancient Greek ἀκακία (akakía) "a thorny Egyptian tree", from ἀκή (akḗ) "point, thorn

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Flowers:                  

• Blooms between July and December producing simple inflorescences on glabrous stalks with a length of 2 to 5 mm 

• The ovoid the spherical flower-spikes have a length of up to 4.5 cm with densely pack light yellow coloured flowers

Fruit:                         

• The compressed a linear seed pods that form after flowering are barely constricted between each of the seeds

• The pods are 2 to 8 cm  in length and have a width of 3 to 5 mm and have quite thin valves

• The elliptic shaped seeds are around 3 to 4 mm in length and have a filamentous funicle that folds and thickens into a turbinate aril

Leaves:         

• It has phyllodes rather than true leaves

• The evergreen phyllodes grow in bundles that are all crowded together 

• The are whorled that have a linear or lanceolate shape with a length of 5 to 25 mm and a width of 1 to 7 mm 

• The phyllodes are glabrous, pungent and rigid with one main visible vein

Stem & branches: 

• The branchlets have bristly prickling stipules with a length of 0.5 to 2 mm in length

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A shrub or tree can grow to a maximum height of around 10 m and has a spreading habit

Habitat:   

• It is a common understorey shrub in both wet and dry sclerophyll forests as well as scrub and heath

• In coastal environments it will often have much wider leaves as opposed to the regular needle-like nature of inland specimens

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to south eastern Australia

• Occurs in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania

• The range of the plant extends from the Gulf St Vincent in South Australia throughout the south-eastern parts and into southern and south eastern Victoria and far south-eastern NSW and Tasmania including the islands in Bass Strait where it is situated in saline, riparian and submontane areas

Subspecies:  

• • Acacia verticillata subsp. verticillata

  • Acacia verticillata subsp. ruscifolia

  • Acacia verticillata subsp. cephalantha

  • Acacia verticillata subsp. ovoidea

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • The species was first described by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1806 as part of Carl Ludwig Willdenows work Species Plantarum

  • It was reclassified as Racosperma verticillatum by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006

• Uses

  • Prickly Moses is sold commercially for cultivation and can grow in full sun or part shade in a variety of locations including plains, hills and footslopes as a second line from the coast

  • It will grow in clay or loam soils that are alkaline, neutral or acidic and will tolerate drought, water logging and a moderate frost

  • It is regarded as an excellent habitat for birds but is highly flammable and not recommended for near houses in bushfire prone areas

  • Indigenous Australians used the fibre from the plant to make fishing lines

  • In popular culture:

    • On 1 September 2016, the Reserve Bank of Australia released a replacement of the polymer five dollar note which includes a depiction of Acacia verticillata (subspecies ovoidea)

Sources of information: