Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in tropical N.T., N of 16ºS. There is also one (sterile) collection from considerably further S on the eastern extremity of the Tanami Desert, namely, c. 70 km W of Wycliffe Well Roadhouse, D.Nelson & R.Swinbourne s.n. (NT 11815); this record has not been verified by recent gatherings.

Description

Shrub or tree to 7.5 m high. Bark fissured longitudinally or rough and stringy, brown or grey. New shoots densely white villous. Branchlets terete, virgate, densely villous. Stipules persistent, 1–2 mm long, reddish brown. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic, normally narrowed at apex and ending in an innocuous or pungent mucro, straight or shallowly incurved, (3–) 5–8 (–13) cm long (4–) 5–10 (–12) mm wide, ±coriaceous, often scurfy, sparsely to densely pubescent, sometimes glabrous; longitudinal nerves numerous with midnerve more prominent than the rest, the minor nerves 9–12 per mm, fine, with rare anastomoses; gland 1, c. 3–18 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple; peduncles 1–3 mm long, densely tomentulose; spikes 3–5 cm long, bright yellow; receptacle hairy. Flowers 5-merous; calyx deeply dissected, bearing intertwined hairs; corolla 0.9–1.1 mm long, dissected to 1/2, glabrous; ovary densely silvery-pubescent. Pods linear, 4–13 cm long, 2.5–4 mm wide, coriaceous, shallowly to moderately curved, longitudinally striate, scurfy, puberulous, later glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, 4.6–5.7 mm long, dark brown.

Phenology

Flowers Apr.–Oct.

Habitat

Grows in colonies, in stony sandy soils or alluvium, in savannah grassland, shrubland, eucalypt woodland or tall wet forest, along creeks, on hills or in gullies on sandstone.

Specimens

N.T.: N of Oenpelli, Mt Borriadale Rd, I.Cowie 3021 & R.Booth (DNA, NSW, PERTH); E side of Swift Ck, 0.7 km from creek crossing, 4.1 km E along track from Oenpelli road turnoff, A.S.Murray & C.F.Puttock (NSW, UNSW9041); 3 miles [4.8 km] S of Adelaide River, I.V.Newman 613 (NSW); SE base of Jabiluka Hill, Oenpelli Rd, 15 May 1979, C.F.Puttock & J.T.Waterhouse (DNA, NSW, UNSW).

Notes

Acacia conspersa is allied to A. multistipulosa and A. pubirhachis, with differences between these species discussed by M.D.Tindale et al., Austral. Syst. Bot. 9: 860 (1996). It is related also to A. rigescens.

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

Edited by B.R.Maslin