WATTLE

Acacias of Australia

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Acacia sclerophylla Lindl. var. sclerophylla

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Restricted to a few localities in south-western W.A.; common in S.A. from Streaky Bay, Eyre Peninsula eastwards; uncommon in north-western Vic. and south-western N.S.W.

Description

Branchlets glabrous or occasionally very sparsely uncinate-puberulous as on var. teretiuscula. New shoots glabrous and resinous. Phyllodes linear-oblanceolate to narrowly oblong-oblanceolate and flat, rarely linear and compressed (in S.A. variant), (10–) 20–45 mm long, 2–4 (–5) mm wide (1 mm wide in S.A. variant), glabrous, with 5–7 (–10) longitudinal nerves. Peduncles normally glabrous, rarely very sparsely appressed-hairy (hairs white). Pods curved to twisted, glabrous.

Habitat

Grows principally in mallee eucalypt scrub or woodland in a wide variety of soils, mostly sandy ones, but in loam in W.A.

Specimens

W.A.: 10 km S of Tammin on road to Gardner Reserve, B.R.Maslin 6301 (CANB, K, MEL, PERTH). S.A.: 57.2 km from junction of Flinders Hwy and Poochera road near Streaky Bay, N.Hall H80/70 (NSW, PERTH); c. 24 km due E of Kadina, B.R.Maslin 4526 (PERTH). N.S.W.: near Gol Gol, 16 Sept. 1963, G.White (NSW). Vic.: Big Desert, 8 km S of Murrayville on Nhill road, M.G.Corrick 6388 (MEL, PERTH).

Notes

Sometimes confused with A. wilhelmiana which is readily distinguished by its peduncles which are densely yellow-hairy and normally on very reduced racemes.

Typically this variety has flat linear-oblanceolate phyllodes 2–4 cm long and 2–4 mm wide. However, in S.A., two unusual variants occur: one from the Murray region with linear phyllodes 4–6 cm long (e.g. W.R.Barker 4393, AD, PERTH), the other from the Eyre Peninsula with subterete phyllodes c. 1 mm wide (e.g. B.Copley 2965, AD, PERTH).

The number of phyllode nerves varies from 5 to 7 per face but sometimes 3 are more prominent than the rest.

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, B.R.Maslin

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