Acacia forsythii Maiden & Blakely (as ‘forsythi’), J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 60: 179; pl.14, figs 1–5 (1927)
Warrumbungle Range Wattle
Bushy shrub c. 2 m high. Branchlets acutely angled at extremities, red-brown, glabrous. Phyllodes on raised stem-projections, ascending to erect, linear, straight to shallowly incurved, 6–10 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, narrowed at base, often abruptly narrowed to an acute apex, thin; midrib fine; lateral nerves obscure and longitudinally anastomosing; gland not prominent, 4–14 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences 5–10-headed racemes; raceme axes 2–4 cm long, slender, glabrous; peduncles 5–7 mm long, slender, glabrous; heads globular, 25–35-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united almost to apex. Pods (few seen) narrowly oblong, slightly rounded over seeds, to 7 cm long, 6–7 mm wide, chartaceous, obscurely reticulate, red-brown, glabrous. Seeds (few seen) longitudinal, oblong, 5 mm long, dull, black; funicle encircling seed in a double fold, dark red-black; aril clavate.
Restricted to Warrumbungle Natl Park, N.S.W. Grows in sandy alluvium in open woodland.
Regarded as a member of the ‘ Acacia microbotrya group’ on account of its long, reddish funicle which encircles the seeds. Very closely related to A. flocktoniae . Acacia linearifolia and A. macnuttiana are similar to A. forsythii in having long, linear phyllodes and racemose inflorescences, but both relatives have short funicles which do not encircle the seeds.
Type of accepted name
Warrumbungle Ra., N.S.W., Oct. 1901, W.Forsyth s.n. ; holo: NSW; iso: K.
Synonymy
[ Acacia adunca auct. non A.Cunn. ex G.Don: J.H.Maiden, Forest Fl. New South Wales 5: 117 (1912), as to Warrumbungle Ra., Oct. 1901, W.Forsyth ]
Illustrations
J.H.Maiden & W.F.Blakely, loc. cit ; I.B.Armitage, Acacias New South Wales 91 (1978); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 151, fig. 164, pl. 164 (1992).
Representative collection
N.S.W.: Side of Bluff Mtn, Warrumbungle Ra., 23 Jan. 1975, R.H.Harden (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.
