Common Name

Parker’s Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in a somewhat restricted area near Kojonup, straddling the boundary of the wheatbelt and forest regions, southwest Western Australia.

Description

Prostate, intricately branched, often sprawling shrub. Branches puberulous, the hairs normally antrorsely appressed, rarely dividing into a few short, straight, wide-spreading, rigid, ±coarsely pungent lateral branchlets. Stipules 2–3 (–4) mm long, innocuous to slightly pungent. Phyllodes in ±nodose fascicles of 2–5 (–9, single on new shoots, shape and size variable, commonly asymmetrically narrowly oblong-oblanceolate or obovate, (8–) 10–25 mm long, (2–) 3–5 (–6) mm wide, l: w = 3–5(–6), innocuous, normally shallowly incurved, thin, with fine, appressed hairs on margins and sometimes midrib otherwise glabrous, puncticulate by scattered, small, circular, sessile, brown resinous trichomes; 1-nerved. Inflorescences simple; peduncles (7–) 10–30 (–40) mm long, slender, often shallowly curved or wavy when dry; heads globular, 22–25-flowered, yellow; bracteoles 1.5–2 mm long, often slightly exserted in mature buds, the laminae triangular-lanceolate and acuminate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals ±free. Pods tightly and sometimes irregularly spirally coiled, 5–15 mm long (unexpanded length), 3–4 (–5) mm wide, ±nerveless. Seeds longitudinal, normally obloid, 3–4 mm long, turgid, normally not mottled; aril white.

Phenology

Flowers Sept.–Oct.; mature pods Dec.

Habitat

Grows in brown loam, clay or clay loam (normally not lateritic), typically in association with Eucalyptus wandoo.

Notes

This species was noted by B.R.Maslin, Fl. Australia 11A: 552 (2001), as one of the variants under A. lullfitziorum, based on A.S.George 11063 & 15255. Acacia lullfitziorum is easily distinguished from A. parkerae by its distinctive, spirally coiled pods; it also possesses branches with numerous, short, wide-spreading, ±lateral branchlets, phyllodes, peduncles and bracteoles commonly shorter; see B.R.Maslin, Nuytsia 24: 173-174 (2014) for further details. The geographic range of A. parkerae partially intersects that of the more wide-spread A. lullfitziorum but two species are not known to be sympatric. Acacia parkerae may have some affinities with the poorly known A. scabra which has generally narrower phyllodes and most probably different pods; see B.R.Maslin, op. cit. 174 for discussion. It also superficially resembles the more distantly related to A. cuneifolia which is readily distinguished by its short, gamosepalous calyx and ±pungent phyllodes.

Conservation

Acacia parkerae is listed as Priority Three under Department of Parks and Wildlife Conservation Codes for Western Australian Flora.

FOA Reference

Flora of Australia Project

Author

B.R. Maslin