Acacia brunioides A.Cunn. ex G.Don, Gen. Hist. 2: 404 (1832)
Brown Wattle
Spreading shrub to c. 2 m high. Branchlets glabrous to puberulous. Phyllodes crowded, spirally arranged to irregularly whorled and on prominent stem-projections, patent to erect, terete to subterete, straight or shallowly recurved from base or only near apex, 2.5–12 mm long, 0.4–0.7 mm wide, obliquely and excentrically mucronate (with mucro or entire apex frequently slightly upturned), glabrous, finely longitudinally rugose when dry; nerves not evident; pulvinus terete, c. 0.5 mm long. Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; peduncles 5–11 mm long, rather stout, glabrous to puberulous, the base ebracteate; heads globular, 16–27-flowered, creamy white or golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 3/4–5/6-united. Pods narrowly oblong, flat, to 5 cm long, 7–15 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, blackish, glabrous. Seeds transverse to oblique, oblong, c. 3.5 mm long; funicle dark red-brown; aril yellowish.
Gibraltar Ra. (N.S.W.) N to McPherson Ra. and near Toowoomba (south-east Qld); also Wallangarra to Stanthorpe (south-east Qld).
Allied to the more southerly A. gordonii and sometimes confused with A. conferta . See also A. baueri . Two subspecies are recognised.
Flower-heads pale yellow to cream or almost white. Phyllodes 2.5–7 mm long, gradually narrowed at apex
subsp. brunioides
Flower-heads golden. Phyllodes 5–12 mm long, abruptly narrowed at apex
subsp. granitica
Acacia brunioides A.Cunn. ex G.Don, subsp. brunioides
Shrub never forming thickets. Phyllodes 2.5–7 mm long, gradually narrowed at apex into an acute point. Peduncles longer than phyllodes. Flower-heads pale yellow to cream or almost white. Pods 7–9 mm wide.
Common on mountain peaks of the Gibralter Ra. (N.S.W.) and in and near the McPherson Ra. (N.S.W. and Qld), also Flagstone Ck near Toowoomba (Qld). Grows in dry sclerophyll forest, on rocky slopes or along rocky watercourses.
Type of accepted name
Rocky hills, south of Moreton Bay, Qld, 1828, A.Cunningham s.n .; holo: K, fide L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 246 (1980).
Synonymy
Racosperma brunioides (A.Cunn. ex G.Don) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 346 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
B.A.Lebler, Wildfl. SE Queensland 2: 36 & colour photo (1981); W.R.Elliot & D.L.Jones, Encycl. Austral. Pl. 2: 57 (1982); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 125, fig. 130, pl. 130 (1992).
Representative collections
Qld: Flagstone Ck, N.Michael 2720 (BRI); Mt Greville, I.R.Telford 3216 (BRI). N.S.W.: Gibralter Ra. Natl Park, 62 km ENE of Glen Innes, R.Coveny 5689 & N.Lander (BRI, NSW); near Tooloom Stn, McPherson Ra., Nov. 1907, W.Dunn s.n . (BRI, C).
Acacia brunioides subsp. granitica Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 246 (1980)
Shrub forming thickets. Phyllodes 5–12 mm long, abruptly narrowed at apex into a mucro. Peduncles about equal to phyllodes in length. Flower-heads golden. Pods 12–15 mm wide.
Restricted to the elevated area from Stanthorpe to Wallangarra, south-eastern Qld.
Similar to A. handonis which is distinguished by asperulous-tuberculate phyllodes and pods with cartilaginous excrescences on the valves. See also A. beadleana .
Type of accepted name
Girraween Natl Park, Wyberba, Qld, 31 Aug. 1969, D.P.Verdon 235 ; holo: BRI; iso: CANB, NSW.
Synonymy
Racosperma brunioides subsp. graniticum (Pedley) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 346 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Representative collection
Qld: 4 km NE of Wallangarra, I.R.Telford 3147 (BRI, NSW).
(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.
