Acacia cochlocarpa Meisn., Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 13: 10 (1855)
Sprawling shrub to 0.7 m high. Branchlets slightly flexuose, glabrous or pubescent. Stipules caducous or persistent. Phyllodes erect, narrowly oblong-elliptic, shallowly to strongly incurved, 2.5- 7.5 cm long, 3- 6 mm wide, acute or obtuse, coriaceous, glabrous or hairy on nerves, prominently 3–7-nerved, the central nerve the most pronounced. Inflorescences simple, 2 per axil; heads sessile, subglobular to short-cylindrical, 5- 10 mm long, 5- 6 mm diam., golden; bracteoles persistent, obtuse or acute to acuminate. Flowers 4-merous; sepals c. 1/2-united. Pods tightly spirally or irregularly coiled, with valves 3- 4 mm wide, chartaceous, glabrous or velvety. Seeds longitudinal, round to oblong, 1.5- 2.5 mm long, glossy, mottled; aril terminal and yellowish.
Occurs near Watheroo and Manmanning, south-western W.A. Grows in sand heath.
Similar to A. lirellata and also related to A. tetraneura which have narrower phyllodes, generally with fewer nerves per face.
Comprised of two subspecies.
Branchlets, pods and phyllodes glabrous; phyllodes generally >4 cm long; flower-heads obloid to short-cylindrical
subsp. cochlocarpa
Branchlets, pods and normally phyllode nerves hairy; phyllodes generally <4 cm long; flower-heads subglobular
subsp. velutinosa
Acacia cochlocarpa Meisn. subsp. cochlocarpa
Stipules caducous. Phyllodes (3- ) 4–7.5 cm long, 4–6 mm wide, with acute apex, glabrous, 5–7-nerved with central nerve equidistant from margins. Flower-heads obloid to short-cylindrical, 7- 10 mm long (dry); bracteoles obovate, 0.7–0.8 mm long, obtuse. Pods glabrous.
Restricted to near Watheroo with an early collection W of Moora, W.A. Grows in sand or sandy laterite. Survives in disturbed roadside situations.
Type of accepted name
Between Moore R. and Murchison R., W.A., J.Drummond 6: 6 ; holo: NY (sheet labelled herb. Shuttleworth), fide B.R.Maslin & R.S.Cowan, Nuytsia 9: 403 (1994); iso: BM, CGE, LD [sphalm. ‘coll. 3’], OXF, P, PERTH (Fragment, origin unknown).
Illustration
F. von Mueller, Iconogr. Austral. Acacia dec. 9 [pl. 5] (1888), as A. cochliocarpa .
Representative collections
W.A.: Watheroo area, 18 Nov. 1973, C.Chapman (B, BFT, BRI, CANB, K, MEL, NSW, NY, PERTH); westward from Moora, L.Diels 3096 (PERTH).
Acacia cochlocarpa subsp. velutinosa Maslin & A.R.Chapm., Nuytsia 12: 475 (1999)
Branchlets pubescent. Stipules persistent. Phyllodes 2.5- 4 cm long, 3–5 mm wide, with apices usually obtuse, 3–5 (–7)-nerved, usually hairy on nerves; central nerve slightly closer to adaxial margin. Flower-heads subglobular, 5- 7 mm long (dry); bracteoles ovate, 1.2–1.8 mm long, acute to acuminate. Pods velvety.
Restricted to near Manmanning with an early collection near York, W.A. Grows in sandy clay or laterite, in heath and scrub.
Superficially resembling A. lirellata subsp. compressa in having flat, curved, strongly multinerved phyllodes, sessile, subglobular to shortly obloid heads and acute to acuminate, dark-coloured bracteoles. Subspecies compressa is distinguished by its non-coiled, glabrous pods, glabrous branchlets and glabrous, narrow phyllodes.
Type of accepted name
Manmanning area [precise locality withheld for conservation reasons], W.A., 30 Nov. 1974, A.S.George 12926 ; holo: PERTH; iso: CANB, K, NSW.
Representative collections
W.A.: [York district], L.Priess 937 (photo PERTH); Manmanning area [precise locality withheld for conservation reasons], B.H.Smith 352 (PERTH).
(ARC & 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.
