WATTLE

Acacias of Australia

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Acacia auronitens Lindl.

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs mainly in the Eneabba area but extends from near Perth to Mingenew, south-western W.A.

Description

Spreading often procumbent multistemmed subshrub 0.2–0.5 m high. Branchlets usually densely pubescent to hirsute. Stipules 2–4 mm long, slender, frequently spinose. Phyllodes ascending to erect, narrowly oblong, straight or shallowly recurved at apices, infrequently quadrangular and deeply sulcate between the nerves, (5–) 7–22 mm long, 1–4 mm wide, ±asymmetrically narrowed at base, with oblique pungent apex, rigid, green, glabrous or hirsutellous on nerves, 4-nerved in all, 1-nerved per face when flat; pulvinus yellow, slightly dilated at base. Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; peduncles (6–) 8–14 mm long, glabrous or hirsutellous; heads globular, 15–25-flowered, golden; bracteoles acuminate. Flowers 5‑merous; sepals free; petals 1-nerved, sometimes sparingly penninerved. Pods narrowly oblong, to 45 mm long, 4–9 mm wide, thickly crustaceous to woody, glabrous or hirsutellous; margins broad, yellow. Seeds transverse, c. 3.7 mm long, turgid, mottled; aril oblique.

Habitat

Grows in deep sand or sand over laterite, in heath or shrubland.

Specimens

W.A.: Midland Junction, 10 Jan. 1901, A.Morrison s.n. (P, PERTH); 5 km N of Cataby Roadhouse on Brand Hwy, B.R.Maslin 5482 (CANB, K, MEL, MO, PERTH); 11.4 km S of Mingenew on Geraldton Hwy, M.D.Tindale 1296 (K n.v., NSW, PERTH).

Notes

Specimens with glabrous branchlets are uncommon (e.g. 23.2 km NNW of Mogumber, B.R.Maslin 5301, MEL, MO, PERTH); the paralectotype represents this variant. Some specimens from near Eneabba have quadrangular phyllodes and can be confused with A. quadrisulcata or A. barbinervis subsp. borealis. Superficially similar to A. ridleyana and A. cavealis.

FOA Reference

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

Author

Minor edits by J.Rogers

B.R.Maslin