WATTLE

Acacias of Australia

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Acacia crenulata R.S.Cowan & Maslin

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from the Chiddarcooping–Walyahmoning Rock area and SE in an area c. 30 km W of Southern Cross and near Bullabulling, W.A.

Description

Shrub to 3 m high, bushy, rounded or obconic. Branchlets crenulate-resinous ribbed, glabrous. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic to linear-elliptic, (2–) 3–6 cm long, (2–) 3–6 mm wide, straight with acute brown shallowly recurved tip, coriaceous, glabrous, glaucous when young, ageing green; margins yellowish and resinous (the resin commonly crenulate); central nerve more evident than the numerous indistinct closely parallel secondary nerves. Inflorescences simple, 1 or 2 per axil; peduncles 1–2 mm long, glabrous except for minute reddish resin-papillae especially when young; heads globular, c. 4 mm diam., 20–25-flowered, golden. Flowers 5‑merous; sepals united into slightly lobed cup. Pods linear, straight to shallowly curved, to 4.5 cm long, 3–4 (–5) mm wide, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous, glabrous, resinous but not viscid. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-ovate, c. 2.5 mm long, subshiny, mottled; funicle/aril yellow.

Habitat

Grows mostly on rocky outcrops in heavy soils and sandy clay loam, in Eucalyptus wandoo low woodland and in association with Melaleuca uncinata, Allocasuarina campestris and other Acacia spp.

Specimens

W.A.: 5.6 km E of Carrabin towards Southern Cross, R.Cumming 2465 (K, PERTH); 5.6 km NW of Bullabulling towards Caenyie Rock, B.R.Maslin 1887 (PERTH); 0.3 km E of Walyahmoning Rock, c. 60 km NW of Bullfinch, K.Newbey 9553 (PERTH); along track c. 1 km SE of Chiddarcooping Hill summit, c. 70 km NE of Merredin, A.S.Weston 14486 (CANB, PERTH).

Notes

Perhaps having affinities with A. duriuscula which is most readily distinguished by its essentially uniformly-nerved phyllodes (the central nerve not or scarcely more pronounced than the rest) with non-resinous margins, longer peduncles, longer calyx relative to the corolla and papery pods.

FOA Reference

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

Author

R.S.Cowan, B.R.Maslin

Minor edits by J.Rogers