Acacia verticillata subsp. ruscifolia
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
prickly Moses
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Shrub to small tree, stems ribbed, sparsely to densely hairy. Leaves reduced to small sharply pointed phyllodes up to 17 x 3 mm. Inflorescence consists of numerous pale yellow flowers arranged in spikes that extend beyond the leaves. Seed pod usually straight, up to 100 x 4 mm.
Similar taxa
The sharply pointed phyllodes (false leaves) and flowers arranged in spikes make A. verticillata easily identifiable.
Habitat
Waste places and scrubland. Seeds itself away from old house gardens, farms or similar.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Fabaceae
Ecology
Flowering
September, October, November.
Year naturalised
1948
Origin
S.E. Australia, Tasmania
Other information
Etymology
acacia: Derived from Greek ‘akazo’ to sharpen, meaning point; spine or thorn.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.