Common Name

New England Hickory

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs on the New England Tableland of N.S.W. where it extends from Bendemeer N to near the Qld border (fruiting material is needed to confirm this distribution); common in the Gibraltar Ra.

Description

Bushy shrub to 3 m high, rarely tree to 8 m. Branchlets angled at extremities, soon terete, dark red, glabrous, slightly pruinose. Phyllodes normally straight to shallowly recurved, oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 5–14 cm long, (10–) 15–30 (–45) mm wide, obtuse, sometimes apiculate, base asymmetric, ±glaucous; midrib prominent, excentric (closer to upper margin), finely penniveined; gland 9–30 mm above pulvinus, margin indented at gland which is connected to midrib by a fine oblique nerve; pulvinus 4–8 mm long. Inflorescences 5–13-headed axillary racemes, or terminal panicles; raceme 1–6 cm long; peduncles 3–10 mm long, with short, yellow appressed hairs; heads globular, 15–25–flowered, whitish to cream-coloured. Pods straight to slightly curved, ±flat, mostly straight-sided to slightly constricted between seeds and often with 1–3 deep constrictions, 5–19 cm long, 10–22 mm wide, thinly coriaceous, brown, glabrous Seeds longitudinal; funicle elongated, completely or almost completely encircling seed.

Phenology

Flowers chiefly Jan.–March.

Habitat

Grows mostly in medium or low dry sclerophyll forest or woodland on sandy infertile soils, often among granite outcrops or rocky exposed hillsides; chiefly on the granite ranges.

Specimens

N.S.W.: Gloucester Buckets, 5 Jan 1966, R.Coveny s.n. (NSW 167394); 6 km N of Torrington beside Silent Grove rd, J.B.Williams 95017 (BRI, NE, NSW).

Notes

Differs from A. falciformis in having often shorter and straighter phyllodes, and funicles which more than 1/2 encircle the seeds; in the New England region A. falciformis flowers around October, earlier in the year than does Acacia sp. New England (J.B.Williams 97011). The funicle character suggests affinities to A. falcata.

FOA Reference

Flora of Australia Project

Author

B.R.Maslin, J.B.Williams, G.Harden