Acacia hemignosta F.Muell., J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot. 3: 134 (1859)
Club-leaf Wattle
Tree or sometimes shrub 3–10 m high. Bark normally rough and corky. Branchlets sometimes pendulous, brittle, sometimes pruinose, glabrous. Phyllodes oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, occasionally linear, straight to shallowly recurved, 6–15 cm long, usually 10–30 mm wide, normally obtuse, green, yellowish green, grey-green or glaucous, glabrous, with 3 distant main nerves and numerous anastamoses forming a close, submerged, net-like reticulum inbetween. Inflorescences racemose, sometimes in panicles; raceme axes 3–17 cm long, glabrous; peduncles 4–12 mm long, 1–several per node; heads globular, 30–50-flowered, bright golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods narrowly oblong, flat, raised over seed, straight, to 8 cm long, 8–12 mm wide, chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic to subcircular, 5.5–6.5 mm long, dull, brown (depressed areole lighter), exarillate.
Scattered occurrences in northern Australia (N of 22S) from the Kimberley, W.A. through N.T. to Cape York area, Qld. Grows in sandy and lateritic soils in flat or undulating country, and in heavier soils close to creeks, mostly in open woodland.
Phyllode width is particularly variable and a few collections exist in which the width is rather consistently as atypically narrow as 6 mm, e.g. 1 km W of Willumbah Bore, N of Snake Ck, T.E.H.Aplin 5157 (CANB, PERTH).
Plants from the region of Kakadu Natl Park, N.T., with very pruinose branchlets may ultimately be shown as warranting formal recognition, e.g. 40 km from Mary River Ranger’s office on road to Koolpin Gorge, B.R.Maslin 7370 et al. (PERTH).
Type of accepted name
‘Point Pearce’, mouth of Victoria R., N.T., Sept. 1855, F.Mueller 87 ; lecto: K, fide R.S.Cowan & B.R.Maslin, Nuytsia 10: 80 (1995); isolecto: MEL, NSW; [Albert R.], Gulf of Carpentaria, [Qld], F.Mueller 34 ; paralecto: K, MEL, NSW.
Synonymy
Racosperma hemignostum (F.Muell.) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 349 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Acacia cloncurrensis Domin, Biblioth. Bot. 89: 262 (1926). Type: near Cloncurry, Qld, 1910, K.Domin s.n. ; holo: PR n.v ., synonymy following L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 219 (1978).
Illustrations
F. von Mueller, Iconogr. Austral. Acacia dec. 8 [pl. 6] (1887); B.R.Maslin, in J.P.Jessop (ed.), Fl. Central Australia 123, fig. 160F (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 2: 205 & pl. 16 (1988); J.Brock, Top End Native Pl. 63 (1988).
Representative collections
W.A.: NE of Bungle Bungle Outcamp, K.F.Kenneally 9220 (BRI, MEL, NSW, PERTH); N.T.: 17.5 km N of Larrimah, G.Chippendale NT3745 (NSW, PERTH); Kurundi Rd, 21 km E of Stuart Hwy, J.R.Maconochie 2372 (PERTH). Qld: ‘Jump Up’ on road between Atherton and Mareeba, 19 km SSE of Atherton, J.Moriarty 126 (PERTH).
(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.
