Acacia nigricans
{{Short description|Species of legume}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
|image =Acacia nigricans.jpg
|genus = Acacia
|species =nigricans
|synonyms=
Acacia ignorata K.Koch
Mimosa nigricans Labill.
Racosperma nigricans (Labill.) Pedley
|range_map = Acacia nigricansDistMap631.png
|range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH
}}
Acacia nigricans is a species of wattle which is endemic to an area on the south coast of Western Australia.
Description
The shrub typically grows to a height of {{cvt|0.4|to|2|m}} and has hairy and ribbed branchlets with persistent and patent stipules. The leaves are composed of two pairs of pinnae with the proximal pinnae having a length of {{cvt|2|to|4|mm}} and the distal pinnae having a length of {{cvt|5|to|15|mm}}, these in turn are made up of two pairs of proximal pinnules and three to eight pairs of distal pinnules all of which have an oblong to narrowly oblong with a length of {{cvt|3|to|8|mm}} and a width of {{cvt|1.5|to|4|mm}}.{{cite web|url=http://worldwidewattle.com/speciesgallery/nigricans.php|title=Acacia nigricans|work=World Wide Wattle|accessdate=14 February 2021|publisher=Western Australian Herbarium}} It produces yellow, globular flowers between mid-winter and late spring.{{FloraBase|name=Acacia nigricans|id=3457}}
Taxonomy
The species was formally described in 1807 by French naturalist Jacques Labillardière who gave it the name Mimosa nigricans, based on plant material collected from Esperance.{{cite web |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Mimosa+nigricans |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127090636/http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Mimosa+nigricans |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 November 2012 |title=Mimosa nigricans |accessdate=24 June 2012 |work=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database |publisher=Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra }} It was transferred to the genus Acacia in 1813 by botanist Robert Brown.{{cite web |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Acacia+nigricans |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121129014946/http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Acacia+nigricans |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 November 2012 |title=Acacia nigricans |accessdate=24 June 2012 |work=Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database |publisher=Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra }}
Distribution
It is often situated on coastal sand dunes, on granite hills and among rocks growing in grey or white sandy soils along the south coast of Western Australia in the Goldfields-Esperance regions. The bulk of the population extends from around Barker Inlet, about {{cvt|50|km}} west of Esperance in the west out to around Israelite Bay in the east and extending inland to near Howick Hill, and is also found on several islands in the Recherche Archipelago usually as a part of heath and scrub communities.