Acacia shuttleworthii

The low compact shrub typically grows to a height of 0.25 to 0.5 metres (0.8 to 1.6 ft).[1] It has finely ribbed, green coloured branchlets that are quite hairy with persistent stipules that have a linear-triangular shape and are 1 to 3 mm (0.039 to 0.118 in) in length. Like most species of Acacia it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. The oblique, ovate to elliptic or circular shaped phyllodes have a length of 5 to 16 mm (0.20 to 0.63 in) and a width of 3 to 11 mm (0.12 to 0.43 in) and are also covered in hairs and sometimes have two or three imperfect nerves on each face.[2] It blooms from October to December and produces cream-white flowers.[1]

The species was first formally described by the botanist Carl Meissner in 1844 as a part of Johann Georg Christian Lehmanns wotk Plantae Preissianae. It was reclassified as Racosperma shuttleworthii in 2003 by Leslie Pedley then transferred back to genus Acacia in 2006.[3]

It is native to an area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia where it is found on hills and breakaways growing in lateritic soils. It has a disjunct distribution from around Dandaragan in the north to around Gnowangerup in the south[1] growing in gravelly clay and sandy soils as a part of Eucalyptus wandoo woodland communities.[2]

• List of Acacia species