Acacia cyclops A.Cunn. ex G.Don
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Authority
Isley, Duane. 1973. Leguminosae of the United States: I. Subfamily. Mimosoideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (1): 1-152.
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Family
Mimosaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
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Species Description - Glabrous shrub or small tree, 1-5 m. Leaves simple, coriaceous, oblong to oblanceolate, straight to slightly falcate or asymmetric, mostly 3-7 (-8) cm long, .7-1.2 cm wide, ca 5-nerved and sparsely reticulate between; basal gland evident or not. Flowers in yellow heads solitary in leaf axils or 2-3 in small, axillary or terminal racemes. Legume oblong, curved (to 180° or more), laterally compressed, ca 5-7 cm long, 9-12 mm wide; valves brown, thin-coriaceous, expressed over seed, at maturity separating and twisting. Seeds black, with a conspicuous red aril plicate about seed and ¾ encircling it.
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Discussion
A. cyclopis A. Cunn. ex Loud. Acacia cyclops is enumerated by Mathias & McClintock (1963) and others. It has been tried as a sand-binder in Golden Gate Park (Jones, 1933) but without much success. I was told at the California Academy of Science that the species has recently been employed in highway plantings. Sterile specimens of A. cyclops may resemble small-leaved forms of the more common A. melanoxylon. The latter is distinguishable by the more marked reticulation of the leaves, but one needs to examine known specimens of each to establish a basis of comparison. Possibly A. cyclops hybridizes with other species in cultivation. A dubious specimen submitted to Tindale was returned marked “perhaps A. cyclops X A.?”
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Distribution
Urban California. Occasional as cultivated ornamental. March-August. Native of Australia.
Australia Oceania|