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Jacksonia (plant)

Jacksonia is a genus of about 73 species of mostly leafless, broom-like shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Fabaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia and species occur in a range of habitats in all Australian states except Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and in the Northern Territory.

Description

Plants in the genus Jacksonia are mostly leafless shrubs or small trees with rigid branches, and leaves reduced to small scales. The flowers are arranged in spikes or racemes with small bracts or bracteoles. The sepals are joined to form a short tube and the petals are usually shorter than the sepals. The standard or banner petal is circular or kidney-shaped, the wing petals are oblong and the keel petal is more or less straight and wider than the wings.

Taxonomy

The genus Jacksonia was first formally described by James Edward Smith from an unpublished manuscript by Robert Brown. Smith's description was published in 1811 in Rees's Cyclopædia along with a description of J. scoparia and J. spinosa. Smith noted that Brown had named the species "in memory of the late Mr. George Jackson, F.L.S., a man of the most excellent and amiable character, devoted to the science of botany". Jackson had died suddenly at the age of 31, in January of the same year.

Accepted species

The following is a list of Jacksonia species accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at December 2023:

References