Acacia anegadensis

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Acacia anegadensis
Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Mimosa family (Mimosoideae)
Genre : Acacia ( Acacia )
Type : Acacia anegadensis
Scientific name
Acacia anegadensis
Britton

Acacia anegadensis (English common name : Poke-me-boy ) is a rare species of the acacia genus. It is endemic to theisland of Anegada, part of the British Virgin Islands.

description

Acacia anegadensis is a branched tree that reaches a height of eight meters. The main branches are widely spread. The thin, smooth branches are twisted. The pair of stiff stipules are needle-shaped. The thorns are 5 to 15 mm long. The leaves are 2 to 3 inches long. The 3 to 6 mm long petioles are either smooth or covered with sparse fuzz. They are corrugated on the top and have a tight cup-shaped gland with a diameter of about 0.5 mm. The leaflets are single-pair. The 10 to 16 mm long leaflets on the petioles are single-pair, rarely two-pair, sessile, obliquely cut off obliquely or oblong-ovoid, leathery, smooth and veined like a net. The leaf margin is rounded or bulged at the apex and bluntly cut off at the base. Both leaf surfaces are shiny.

The thin inflorescence axes covered with loose fluff are arranged individually or in groups of two to four. They are smaller than the leaves. The flower heads are spherical and 5 to 6 mm in diameter. The flowers are yellow. The calyx has tiny teeth that are approximately 0.6 mm long. The narrow corolla is ciliate on the teeth. It is shorter than the flower tube. The 20 stamens are 3 to 4 mm long. The stamens are thread-like. The anthers are tiny. The 3 to 4 centimeters long pods are curved, pointed, swollen, smooth and veined. The flattened, hemispherical, dull brown seeds are 3 to 4 mm long and 1.5 mm in diameter.

habitat

The habitat of Acacia anegadensis consists mainly of tropical or subtropical, dry bush and woodland with limestone soils. The species is very rarely found on sand dunes.

status

Due to the very small distribution area of ​​about 25 km², Acacia anegadensis is classified by the IUCN in the category " critically endangered ". The living space is severely impaired by the construction of residential and tourist facilities as well as road construction. Free-roaming cattle ( domestic cattle , domestic goats and domestic donkeys) destroy the vegetation through overgrazing and trampling. The competition with invasive plant species such as the horsetail casuarina ( Casuarina equisetifolia ), Cryptostegia madagascariensis and Kalanchoe pinnata represents a further threat. Fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and flooding of the coasts have also threatened the species. In recent years, employees of the Royal Botanic Gardens have threatened the species (Kew), in collaboration with the British Virgin Islands National Parks Trust and the Darwin Initiative, have taken measures to protect Acacia anegadensis . One site was declared a Ramsar area in 1999. A reproducing specimen and 22 saplings are located in the JR O'Neal Botanic Garden on Tortola , British Virgin Islands.

literature

  • Nathanial Lord Britton: The Vegetation of Anegada In: Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden, Volume 6, 1916, pp. 565-580 (first scientific description)
  • Nathanial Lord Britton and Percy Wilson: Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Volume 4. Botany of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Pandales to Thymeleales . New York Academy of Sciences, 1924

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