Acacia baxteri Benth. (as ‘bagsteri’), London J. Bot . 1: 327 (1842)
Baxter’s Wattle
Shrub 0.3–0.6 m high. Branchlets rigid, striate-ribbed, sometimes pruinose, glabrous. Stipules 1–3 mm long, spinose. Phyllodes sessile, variable, narrowly linear to inequilaterally narrowly oblong-elliptic, pentagonal-terete when narrow, 10–25 mm long, normally 1–4 mm wide, with oblique, pungent apex, thick, rigid, subglaucous (? or green), glabrous, 5-nerved, the 2-nerved adaxial margin thick and nerve-like; midrib prominent. Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; peduncles 3–10 (- 15) mm long, stout, glabrous; heads globular, 30–50-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free; petals nerveless. Pods curved, terete to subterete, to 6.5 cm long, 3.5–5 mm wide, subwoody, dark red-brown, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong, 5–6 mm long, grey-brown; aril terminal, conical, small.
Disjunct in south-western W.A. with the main occurrence from Ongerup to Albany, infrequent further N between Walebing and Quairading. Grows in often lateritic or granitic sand or loam, in Eucalyptus woodland or open Mallee heath. Flowers during most months of the year.
Erroneously described as ‘A. bagsteri’, fide G.Bentham, Fl. Austral . 2:328 (1864).
Branchlets on plants from the northern-most populations are more pruinose than elsewhere; the relationship between these populations and A. affin. baxteri requires further investigation.
Related to A. andrewsii ; phyllodes similar to A. unifissilis .
A taxon of uncertain rank but with affinities to A. baxteri (especially the northern pruinose populations) is keyed and described separately in WATTLE as A. affin. baxteri .
Type of accepted name
King George Sound [Albany], W.A., W.Baxter ; holo: K.
Illustration
F. von Mueller, Iconogr. Austral. Acacia dec. 2 (1887).
Representative collections
W.A.: McMahon’s property, 6 km S of Mt Barker, 2 Feb. 1971, K.F.Kenneally s.n. (PERTH); 17.6 km W of Quairading on the road to York, B.R.Maslin 488 (PERTH); 19.2 km S of Ongerup, K.Newbey 3485 (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.
