Acacia aphanoclada Maslin, Nuytsia 8: 290; 291, fig. 2 (1992)
Nullagine Ghost Wattle
Wispy, glabrous shrub to 6 m high. Branchlets pruinose. Stipules erect, spinose, sometimes absent, 2.5–4 mm long. Phyllodes narrowly linear, terete near base otherwise flat, 20–45 cm long, 1.5–2 (– 3) mm wide, acuminate, sometimes pungent (the points normally break off with age), flexible; midrib not prominent; gland 2–6 mm above base. Inflorescences racemose, occasionally simple; racemes axes 5–9 (–18) cm long; peduncles mostly twinned, 1–2 cm long, slender, with caducous bract above middle; heads globular, densely 70–90-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free, narrowly spathulate. Pods narrowly oblong, straight-edged or constricted between seeds, 6–7 cm long, 6–8 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, pruinose at least when young. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to widely ovate or almost globose, 4–5 mm long, dull, brown, often yellowish near pleurogram; aril clavate.
A rare species known only from near Nullagine, north-western W.A. Grows on rocky hills in spinifex ( Triodia sp.) country with scattered Eucalyptus sp. and Acacia sp.
The stipules and phyllode apices are slender and often pungent, however, they are brittle and, on the phyllodes especially, commonly break off with age. On regrowth shoots the phyllodes may be atypically wide (to 10 mm across).
Readily distinguished from other members of the ‘ A. victoriae group’ by its characteristic wispy habit comprising very slender, single stems (to 2 cm d.b.h.) and open crowns with very long, narrow, pendulous phyllodes. These characters are similar to those of A. araneosa , a member of the ‘ A. microbotrya group’ from the Flinders Ra., S.A.
Type of accepted name
3 miles [c. 5 km] S of Nullagine, W.A., 26 Oct. 1973, H.Demarz D4751 ; holo: PERTH; iso: K.
Illustration
B.R.Maslin, loc. cit .
Representative collections
W.A.: 9 km S of Nullagine, A.S.George 15716 (MEL, PERTH); c. 5 km N of Nullagine on Great Northern Hwy, B.R.Maslin 4957 (NSW, PERTH).
(BRM)
The information presented here originally appeared on the WATTLE CD-ROM which was jointly published by the Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, and the Department of Parks and Wildlife, Perth; it was produced by CSIRO Publishing from where it is available for purchase. The WATTLE custodians are thanked for allowing us to post this information here.
