Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd., var. sundra (Roxb.) Kurz, Forest Fl. Burma 1: 422 (1877)
Cutch Tree
Tree to 6 m high. Bark brown. Branchlets glabrous or almost so; prickles in pairs at nodes or sometimes absent, slightly recurved or straightish, to 5 mm long. Stipules caducous, inconspicuous. Leaves: petiole mostly 1.5- 3 cm long, with a raised oblong or discoid gland; rachis mostly 6- 12 cm long, a gland usually present at junction of each of top 1 or 2 pairs of pinnae; pinnae mostly 12- 20 pairs; pinnules mostly 30- 50 pairs per pinna, linear, 3- 6 mm long, glabrous throughout or ciliate. Inflorescences spicate, axillary, solitary or fascicled. Flowers yellowish white. Calyx cupular, less than half as long as corolla, glabrous. Pods oblong, straight or almost so, 6- 12 cm long, 1.5- 2 cm wide, dehiscent. Seeds not seen.
Introduced into the N.T. from Asia and now naturalised and spreading in and around Darwin.
The closely related A. polyacantha Willd. of Asia and Africa differs in having whitish bark and the calyx almost as long as the corolla. Information on lifecycle, dispersal, plant properties, etc. is given by W.T.Parsons & E.G.Cuthbertson, Noxious Weeds of Australia 434 (1992).
Type of accepted name
‘forests and mountains of Coromandel’, Pl. Coromandel 3: t. 225; iconotype.
Synonymy
Mimosa sundra Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 3: t. 225 (1811); Acacia sundra (Roxb.) DC., Prodr . 2: 458 (1825). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
W.Roxburgh, loc. cit ., as Mimosa sundra ; W.T.Parsons & E.G.Cuthbertson, loc. cit.; C.R.Dunlop et al ., Fl. Darwin Region 2: 7, fig. 2 (1995).
Representative collections
N.T.: near Botanic Gardens, Darwin, N.T.Byrnes 2199 (DNA); Bullocky Point, Darwin, M.O.Rankin 2583 (DNA); Gilruth Ave, Darwin, M.O.Rankin 2688 (CANB, DNA, MEL, NSW, PERTH).
(JHR)