Common Name

Torulosa Wattle, Deep-gold Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Widespread in tropical N.T. and Qld, N of 23°S.

Description

Slightly resinous shrub or tree, 1.3–15 m high. Bark flaky when old. Branchlets angled towards apices, soon terete, glabrous. Phyllodes linear to very narrowly elliptic, (5–) 7–18 (–20.5) cm long, (4–) 6–15 (–18) mm wide, thinly to moderately coriaceous, yellowish green (at least when dry), scurfy when mature; nerves 10–13 per mm, nonanastomosing, with prominent midnerve and 1 or 2 semiprominent nerves; gland 1, to 2 mm above pulvinus. Spikes 1–4 cm long. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 0.5–0.8 mm long, free almost to base, with hyaline hairs; corolla 0.8–1.3 mm long, dissected to 1/2, glabrous; ovary densely pubescent. Pods linear, strongly moniliform, convex over seeds, 6–20 cm long, 3–7 mm wide, longitudinally nerve-ridged, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, ±elliptic, 4.4–6.5 mm long, dark brown; areole narrowly oblong, open, slightly raised within a central depression, often paler than rest of seed.

Phenology

Flowers Mar.–July.

Habitat

Grows usually in alluvial sandy soil, close to streams, on rocky hillsides or near beaches, in eucalypt woodland or mixed shrubland.

Specimens

N.T.: 28.5 km W of Twin Falls, M.Lazarides 9129 (CANB, NSW); McArthur R. area, L.A.Craven 4230 (BRI, CANB, DNA, G, L, P, RSA). Qld: 56.8 km NW of ‘Lakeland Downs’, R.G.Coveny 6995 & P.D.Hind (AD, BRI, CANB, K, MEL, NSW, QRS).

Notes

Occupies a wide range of habitats but is not very variable morphologically. Acacia torulosa is a member of the ‘A. tumida group’. It has distinctive pods that are torulose, glabrous and longitudinally wrinkled, but specimens without fruit may be confused with A. armitii, A. hammondii, A. julifera or A. plectocarpa.Acacia torulosa produces natural hybrids with A. difficilis, fide B.R.Maslin & M.W.McDonald, A key to useful Australian acacias for the seasonally dry tropics 34 (CSIRO: Melbourne).

FOA Reference

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia

Author

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

Dr M.D.Tindale and Dr P.G.Kodela with the assistance of M.Bedward, S.J.Davies, C.Herscovitch, D.A.Keith and/or D.A.Morrison