Acacia obtusifolia A.Cunn.
WATTLE
Acacias of Australia
Family
Fabaceae
Distribution
Widespread in forests and woodlands along the coastal and near-coastal ranges of far south-eastern Qld and north-eastern N.S.W., the central tablelands E of the Great Dividing Ra., central and southern coasts of N.S.W. and far eastern Vic.
Description
Shrub or tree 0.5–16 m high, erect or spreading. Branchlets glabrous. Stipules triangular, less than 0.5 mm long or obscure. Phyllodes mostly narrowly elliptic, (8–) 12–25 cm long, 7–23 (–30) mm wide, mostly straight to shallowly recurved, coriaceous, dark green; margins red resinous and smooth or granular; apex obtuse, infrequently acute; primary nerves prominent, commonly 2–5; secondary nerves parallel, longitudinally anastomosing; gland (0–) 2–6 (–9) mm above pulvinus; pulvinus 2–4 mm long. Inflorescences simple or sometimes rudimentary racemes; peduncles (2–) 5–10 mm long, glabrous; receptacle glabrous; spikes 3–7 cm long, interrupted, creamy white to pale yellow; bracteoles ovate-navicular, c. 0.5 mm long, minutely fringed. Flowers 4‑merous; sepals united. Pods subcylindrical to flattish, linear, straight to ±shallowly curved, 5–15 cm long, 3–7 mm wide, crustaceous. Seeds narrowly elliptic, 4.5–6 mm long, shiny; funicle thin, folded c. 4–5 times; aril turbinate.
Phenology
Usually flowers Nov.–Jan. but fruits irregularly.
Habitat
It often occurs near the margins of rainforests.
Specimens
Qld: Mt Greville, S.L.Everist 7249 (BRI). N.S.W.: Cooyal, 25 km NE of Mudgee, L.Pedley 1625 (BRI, MEL); Comboyne Plateau, I.R.Telford 2313 (CANB); Mt Dromedary, L.G.Adams 506 (BRI, CANB, MEL). Vic.: 20 km N of Murrungowar, NE of Orbost, 29 Dec. 1951, J.H.Willis & N.A.Wakefield s.n. (MEL, NSW).
Notes
Similar to A. phlebophylla which also possesses red resinous phyllode margins, but which differs from A. obtusifolia in normally shorter, broader phyllodes and generally shorter peduncles. Acacia obtusifolia fruits very rarely and appears to propagate principally by suckering.
FOA Reference
Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia
Author
A.B.Court
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