Acacia gladiiformis A.Cunn. ex Benth., London J. Bot . 1: 354 (1842)
Sword Wattle , Sword-leaf Wattle
Open shrub 1–4 m high. Branchlets red-brown, glabrous. Phyllodes rather spreading, sometimes deflexed, narrowly oblanceolate, incurved, 7–12 cm long, (3- ) 5–12 mm wide, narrowed at base, obtuse, coriaceous, glabrous; midrib and margins prominent; lateral nerves obscure; glands 3–6, the lowermost basal. Raceme axes 2–6 cm long, rather stout, glabrous; peduncles 3–6 mm long, rather stout, glabrous; heads globular, c. 1 cm diam. at anthesis, densely 30–45-flowered, golden; bracteole laminae evident in buds, circular, dark brown to black, white-fimbriolate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods linear, rounded over seeds, to c. 13 cm long, 5–6 mm wide, thinly coriaceous, blackish, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic, 4–5 mm long; funicle encircling seed in a single fold, light reddish; aril clavate.
Occurs in N.S.W. on tablelands and western slopes of the Great Divide from Warialda S to Cowra. The S.A. occurrence of this species cited by J.M.Black, Fl. S. Australia 1st edn, 2: 280 (1924), was based on a misidentification of A. beckleri . Grows in rocky areas in dry sclerophyll forest.
A member of the ‘ Acacia microbotrya group’, sometimes confused with the more westerly distributed A. beckleri which has narrowly elliptic phyllodes, thick, minutely hairy peduncles, usually 50–70 (- 140)-flowered heads and short funicles which do not encircle the seeds.
Type of accepted name
Rocky places in vicinity of Wellington Valley [just S of Wellington township], N.S.W., 1825, A.Cunningham 86 ; syn: K; isosyn: K; Pine ridges bounding Aitons’ Plains to the east [vicinity of Dunedoo], N.S.W., 1825, A.Cunningham 105 ; syn: K; isosyn: K.
Illustrations
L.F.Costermans, Native Trees & Shrubs SE Australia 317 (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 161 & pl. 32 (1981); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 140, fig. 149, pl. 149 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: on southern outskirts of Rylstone township, B.R.Maslin 5910 (NSW, PERTH); Pilliga East State Forest in vicinity of Willala Hills, G.Medhurst 11 (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.
