Acacia elsherana G.J.Leach (ms)
Erect straggly shrubs, 1-2(-5) m high. Bark brown or grey. Branchlets very rarely only slightly pruinose, glabrous. Phyllodes narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, straight or shallowly recurved, 57-125 mm long, 8-29 mm wide, 3.25-8.5 times long as wide, obtuse, chartaceous or rarely thinly coriaceous, dull grey-green to green, not pruinose, glabrous, with 2-3 main nerves, anastomoses numerous, nerve islands longitudinally elongated, prominent. Inflorescences simple or racemose, racemes 80-250 mm long; peduncles 8-25 mm long, 1-2 per node; heads globular, 23-33-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free, spathulate, c. 2/3 length of petals; ovary glabrous. Pods narrowly oblong, flat, raised over seeds, straight, straight-edged or rarely slightly constricted between seeds, (22-)30-105 mm long, 8-14 mm wide, chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal to oblique in pod, discoid, 4.5-6 mm long, dull, brown, exarillate.
Most collections are from the southern area of Kakadu National Park, N.T., particularly around Coronation Hill. Grows in lateritic or sandy soils in open woodland from rocky foothills to flats. Common in disturbed areas such as track verges. Flowering observed January-June.
Related to A. hemignosta and A. amanda but differs principally by phyllode venation which has longitudinally elongated anastomoses.
Collections from north-eastern Arnhem Land have been tentatively recognised as a closely related taxon but with further research may prove to be conspecific.
Representative collections
N.T.: 49 miles E of Pine Creek , N. Byrnes 1326 (DNA, NT); Coronation Hill, J.L. Egan 2144 (DNA, PERTH, NSW); 72 miles NE of Maranboy Police Stn ., M. Lazarides & L. Adams 92 (CANB, DNA); 0.25 mile SW of El Sherana mine, P. Martensz & R. Schodde AE463
This species was not included in the Fl. Australia treatment of Acacia .
(GJL)
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.
