Acacia argyrodendron Domin, Biblioth. Bot. 89: 261 (1926)
Black Gidyea , Blackwood
Tree 8–25 m high. Bark hard, furrowed, dark grey or black. Branchlets glabrous or subglabrous. Phyllodes ascending, narrowly linear-elliptic, straight or occasionally slightly recurved, 8–17 cm long, 4–9 mm wide, acute, coriaceous, glabrous or subglabrous, with numerous closely parallel nerves of which 1–3 are more prominent than the rest. Inflorescences 12–30-headed racemes; raceme axes 2–6 cm long, subglabrous; peduncles 5–10 mm long, glabrous or subglabrous; heads globular, 3.5 mm diam., 12–20-flowered, golden. Flowers 4-merous, rarely with intermixed 5-merous flowers; sepals united near base. Pods linear, to 12 cm long, 10–13 mm wide, thin, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, soft, broadly oblong or elliptic to subcircular, discoid, 10–13 mm long, dull, brown, exarillate.
Occurs in central Qld across the Great Divide from the Torrens Ck area E to the Isaac R. basin, particularly common in the Cape, Suttor and Belyando R. basins. Grows mostly in dark cracking clay, either alone or, on the southern and eastern edge of its range, with Brigalow ( Acacia harpophylla ).
Similar in general appearance to A. harpophylla which has larger flower-heads, shorter racemes and subterete, longitudinally ribbed pods; the two species share the mainly tetramerous flower characteristic, details of flower structure and morphology of the soft seeds.
Type of accepted name
‘zwischen Camooweal und Burketown’ [locality seemingly incorrect and should probably be NE of Aramac, fide L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 191 (1978)], Qld, Apr. 1910, J.Danes ; holo: PR n.v.
Synonymy
Racosperma argyrodendron (Domin) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 345 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
J.W.Turnbull (ed.), Multipurpose Austral. Trees & Shrubs 104- 105 (1986).
Representative collection
Qld: 10 miles [16 km] NE of Natal Downs Stn, Adams 979 (AD, CANB n.v ., NSW, PERTH).
(RSC)
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.
