Acacia torulosa Benth.
WATTLE
Acacias of Australia
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
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a mobile application:
URL: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/wattle/
© Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.