Acacia translucens, commonly known as poverty bush, is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 that grows on arid

Arid

A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...

 spinifex

Spinifex (genus)

Spinifex is a genus of perennial coastal grasses. They are one of the most common plants that grow in sand dunes along the coasts of Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.. As they help stabilise the sand, these grasses are an important part of the entire sand dune ecosystem. Of the four species...

 plains in northern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is distributed throughout the inland Pilbara

Pilbara region of Western Australia

The Pilbara is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia known for its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore...

 and Kimberley

Kimberley region of Western Australia

The Kimberley is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northern part of Western Australia, bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts, and on the east by the Northern Territory.The region...

 regions of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, and east into the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

.

Poverty bush is a low, spreading shrub with a flat top. It grows up to 1 metres high and 1.5 metres wide. As with many arid shrubland Acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

species, it has phyllodes instead of leaves. Its flowers are yellow, and held in spherical clusters about 5 millimetres in diameter. The seed pods are held erect above the foliage, instead of hanging down like most Acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

s. The pods can be up to 9 centimetres long.