Common Name

Yellow Prickly Moses

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Coastal fringe of south-eastern Qld from Bundaberg S to near Brisbane.

Description

Spreading shrub to 2 m high. Branchlets puberulous, sometimes subglabrous. Phyllodes dimidiate, 4–10 mm long, 3–8 mm wide, broadest near or below middle, pungent, glabrous; adaxial margin markedly rounded, slightly angled at the gland and with its proximal edge ±parallel to branchlet; abaxial margin ±straight; midrib curved and intersecting adaxial margin below the cusp; marginal nerves prominent. Inflorescences mostly simple within axils of ±reduced phyllodes at ends of branchlets, sometimes forming axillary racemes to c. 3 cm long; peduncles 1 per axil, (3–) 5–12 (–15) mm long, glabrous or sparsely puberulous; heads globular, 15–20-flowered, creamy yellow. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods stipitate, oblong to narrowly oblong, raised over seeds alternately on each side, to 5 cm long, 1–1.5 cm wide, thinly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds transverse, c. 4.5 mm long.

Habitat

On coastal lowlands it often grows in poorly drained sand in open forest or heath associated with swamps, and on rocky slopes above about 150 m alt. on peaks of the Glasshouse Mtns.

Specimens

Qld: wallum area near Coonarr, 32 km S of Bundaberg, 18 Aug. 1980, V.Hando s.n. (PERTH); Beerburrum, V.K.Moriarty 453 (BRI).

Notes

According to L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 237 (1980), the mountain plants have ±oblong phyllodes which are abruptly narrowed to short points and although these can be consistently distinguished on herbarium sheets they are not considered worthy of formal rank.

Acacia hubbardiana is not closely related to A. pravifolia or A. amblygona even though their phyllodes are sometimes superficially similar. Its most important differences are seen in its phyllode venation and carpological features, and in its ebracteate-based peduncles and stipitate bracteoles.

FOA Reference

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

Author

B.R.Maslin

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