Common Name

Slender-nerved Acacia

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Apart from early Drummond collections (including the type) this rare species is known from only a small roadside population near Dowerin, south-western W.A.

Description

Domed shrub 0.5–0.8 m high. Branchlets terete, obscurely nerved, strigose with short, straight, closely appressed hairs, glabrescent. Stipules subpersistent, 1.5–2 mm long. Phyllodes shallowly to strongly incurved or sigmoid, terete to subterete, 3–7.5 cm long, c. 1 mm diam., ±pungent, coriaceous, glabrous except sparsely appressed-puberulous at base, striate by 16 slightly raised close nerves; gland 2–4 mm above pulvinus; pulvinus smooth, flared at base. Inflorescences simple,1 or 2 per axil; peduncles 4–6 (–8) mm long, appressed-puberulous; basal peduncular bract sub-caducous, rostriform, 3–4 mm long, dark brown; heads globular, c. 5 mm diam., 20–30-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free, linear-spathulate. Pods submoniliform, strongly raised over seeds, to 3 cm long, 2 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, curved, sparsely appressed puberulous to glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic, c. 2 mm long, light grey mottled dark brown; aril well-developed.

Specimens

W.A.: near Dowerin [precise locality withheld for conservation reasons], J.M.Collins 652 (PERTH); Swan R., J.Drummond 303 (or coll. 3, no. 303) (BH, K, MEL, NY, OXF, P, PERTH)

Notes

In many respects very similar to A. subflexuosa Maiden, which is most readily distinguished by its 8-nerved phyllodes.

The precise identity of A. leptoneura var. pungens Meisn. cannot be determined because the only material is sterile, but it displays a number of characteristics of A. acellerata and may indeed represent that species. It was referred, tentatively, by G.Bentham, Fl. Austral. 2: 399 (1864), to A. aciphylla.

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

Revised by B.R.Maslin