Acacia frigescens J.H.Willis, Victorian Naturalist 73: 158 (1957)
Montane Wattle , Forest Wattle , Frosted Wattle
Shrub or tree 3–15 m high. Bark rather smooth. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate-elliptic, straight, 7–16 cm long, 1.5–5 cm wide, acute to subacute, coriaceous, normally greyish green (from an innate mealiness), with 3–5 main longitudinal nerves and a close reticulum between them. Inflorescences comprising 2- to 5-headed, axillary racemes; raceme axes 6–17 mm long, glabrous, resinous; peduncles 5–10 mm long, densely puberulous; heads globular, 6–7 mm diam., c. 30-flowered, pale yellow to bright yellow. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united to near their apices. Pods linear, raised over seeds, straight, to 10 cm long, 5–8 mm wide, crustaceous-coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong, 4–5 mm long, shiny, black; aril folded beneath the seed, white.
Confined to montane and subalpine regions NE of Melbourne to Mt Coopracambra in E Gippsland, Vic. Grows as an understorey in tall eucalypt forest, e.g. Eucalyptus regnans (Mountain Ash).
Superficially very similar in habit and foliage to A. melanoxylon , with which it is sometimes sympatric. Acacia melanoxylon is most readily distinguished by its rough, fissured bark, commonly persistent bipinnate foliage (discarded after the first seedling leaves in A. frigescens ), normally glabrous peduncles and cream-coloured heads of 30–56 flowers, coiled and often twisted pods and especially by its seeds which are encircled by a conspicuous pink to red aril.
Type of accepted name
Result Ck near Bonang, Vic., Sept. 1940, W.Hunter ; holo: MEL1500347; iso: NSW.
Illustrations
L.F.Costermans, Native Trees & Shrubs SE Australia 327 (1981); A.G.Floyd, Rainforest Trees SE Australia 211 (1989); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia , 66, fig. 47, pl. 47 (1992).
Representative collections
Vic.: c. 1.3 km N of Mt Coopracambra summit, D.E.Albrecht 3668 (BRI, MEL, PERTH); 5 km W Mt Gregory, S.J.Forbes 948 (BRI, HO, K, NSW, PERTH); Poley Ra., about 16 km NE of Warburton, 18 Feb. 1954, J.H.Willis (MEL, NSW).
(RSC & 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.
