Common Name

Karina’s Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from the Blue Hills Ra. and nearby areas E of Morawa and the Mt Gibson area, W.A.

Description

Openly branched shrub 1–3 m high. Branchlets glabrous or sparsely appressed-hairy, light brown or reddish brown (or sometimes light green) towards the tips. Phyllodes continuous with branchlets, ascending to erect, substraight to moderately incurved with few irregularly sinuous, not rigid, filiform, terete, (8–) 10–28 (–32) cm long, 0.6–1 mm diam., acuminate, not pungent, ±glabrous, green, with 8 longitudinal nerves each separated by a distinct furrow; pulvinus absent or occasionally rudimentary. Inflorescences simple or rudimentary racemes with axis to c. 1 mm long; spikes 15–60 mm long, 3.5–5 mm diam., flowers loosely arranged, light golden; bracteoles spathulate, 0.5 mm long; peduncles 3–7.5 mm long, ±sparsely appressed-hairy. Flowers 4-merous; calyx cupular, gamosepalous, ¼–⅓ length of corolla. Pods submoniliform, ±straight to shallowly curved, 4–20 cm long, 4–5 mm wide, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous to firmly chartaceous, glabrescent, light brown, marginal nerve yellow. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic or slightly ovate, 3–3.5 (–4) mm long, normally minutely pitted at centre; aril conspicuous, creamy white to brown.

Phenology

Flowers May–July.

Habitat

Grows in soils over banded ironstone formations or occasionally granite, in shrubland.

Specimens

W.A.: E of Morawa [precise localities withheld for conservation purposes], A.Markey & S.Dillon 3329 (PERTH) and B.R.Maslin 8791A (G, NT, PERTH); Mt Gibson Stn, D.G.Fell 0216 (PERTH).

Notes

Acacia karina is closely related to A. stanleyi and both are allied to A. jibberdingensis which is most readily recognized by its phyllodes which have a distinct pulvinus. Both A. karina and A. jibberdingensis grow at Mt Mulgine (near Blue Hills Ra.) and on Mt Gibson Stn and a few possible intermediates between them occur in these areas, e.g. 3.7 km N of Mount Gibson HS, S. Patrick 1862 (PERTH).

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, J.Reid