WATTLE

Acacias of Australia

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Acacia ammobia Maconochie

Common Name

Mt Conner Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in south-western N.T., from 130 km W to 50 km E of Uluru, and in north-western S.A. in the Indulkana Ra.

Description

Shrub or small tree, 1.5–7 m high. Bark splitting longitudinally or fibrous, grey to black. Branchlets angular or flattened, soon becoming terete, pale yellow or light brown, glabrous. Phyllodes linear, flat, 11–24.5 (–27) cm long, 4–10 mm wide, tapered toward apex and base, with apex drawn out into an elongate slender blunt tip, coriaceous, with subprominent midnerve and 8–11 minor non-anastomosing nerves per mm; gland 1, very inconspicuous, basal, 1–3 mm above pulvinus. Spikes single or paired on axillary shoots that sometimes become leafy, 2–5 cm long, densely flowered, yellow. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 1–1.25 mm long, dissected to 1/10–1/5, basally villous, with orange-brown scurf on lobes; corolla 1.3–1.6 mm long, dissected to 1/3–1/2, glabrous; ovary densely villous. Pods linear, slightly constricted between and strongly raised over seeds, 5.5–11 cm long, 2–3 mm wide, with margins nerve-like, coriaceous, dark brown, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, narrowly oblong to broadly elliptic, dorsiventrally flattened, 3–4 mm long, dark brown; areole small, surrounded by pale U-shaped pleurogram; funicle folded and thickened into cupular aril.

Phenology

Flowers Aug.–Oct.

Habitat

Usually in sandy soils, often on dunes, or in gravelly soils, with spinifex.

Specimens

N.T.: 31.1 miles [50 km] E of Ayers Rock [Uluru], 14 Sept. 1956, G.Chippendale s.n. (CANB, DNA, NSW); c. 30 miles [48 km] E of Ayers Rock [Uluru], 28 Aug. 1980, R.Horner s.n. (NSW); 50 miles [c. 80 km] W of Ayers Rock [Uluru], P.K.Latz 823 (DNA, NSW); 13 km E of Irvin Creek, Petermann area, P.K.Latz 11681 (AD, NT, DNA, PERTH); 39 km E of Ayers Rock [Uluru], L.Ulyatt 121 (BRI, DNA, NSW, PERTH). S.A: upper slope of Indulkana Ra., Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands, P.J.Lang & P.D.Canty BS23-29140 (AD).

Notes

Allied to A. undoolyana.

Details of ecology, utilisation, etc. of A. ammobia are given in J.W.Turnbull (ed.), Multipurpose Austral. Trees & Shrubs 94 (1986). Details of the aboriginal use of this fire-sensitive rare plant are given by P.Latz, Bushfires & Bushtucker 86 (1995).

FOA Reference

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia

Author

Dr M.D.Tindale and Dr P.G.Kodela with the assistance of M.Bedward, S.J.Davies, C.Herscovitch, D.A.Keith and/or D.A.Morrison

Minor edits by B.R.Maslin, J.Reid & J.Rogers