Acacia inceana Domin, Vestn. Kral. Ceske Spolecn. Nauk, Tr. Mat.-Prir. 2: 43 (1923)
Shrub 1–3 m high. Branchlets terete, glabrous or appressed-puberulous, glabrescent. Phyllodes ascending to erect, straight or slightly curved, terete to flat, 4–8.5 cm long, 1–1.5 mm diam., to 4(-6) mm wide when flat, narrowed to a delicate, normally curved, innocuous to pungent tip, rigid, glabrous or appressed-puberulous but glabrescent, with numerous closely parallel, indistinct nerves; stomata sometimes raised; glands 1 or 2, at least 10 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple, 2 per axil; peduncles 3–6(-7) mm long, glabrous or sparsely appressed-puberulous; heads globular, 3.5–4 mm diam., 10–30-flowered. Flowers 4-merous; sepals free, narrowly oblong to spathulate or linear-spathulate. Pods linear, slightly raised over but not constricted between seeds, straight, 4–10 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, thinly coriaceous, tan or pale dull brown, glabrous. Seeds (subsp. conformis ) longitudinal, oblong, 4.5–6 mm long, subglossy, dark brown; aril terminal, white.
Occurs from near Morawa SE to Hines Hill (c. 20 km due SW of Merredin), E to the Kalgoorlie area in south-western W.A.
Both Domin’s name and that of Maiden & Blakely were based on the same collection at Kew; Domin obtained a fragment during a visit to Kew and Maiden received the collection later on loan for naming. Thus the main collection is at Kew with fragments at Prague and Sydney.
A member of the ‘ A. enervia group’ and morphologically similar to A. enervia , which has pentamerous flowers and phyllodes with the gland basal or absent; the pods appear to differ in width between the two species, wider in A. inceana . Also superficially similar to A. kalgoorliensis . The species comprises three subspecies.
Key
1 Phyllodes perfectly terete; pods tan; plants from Kalgoorlie area SE to Binneringie Stn (E of 120 30’ Long.)
subsp. inceana
1: Phyllodes subterete to flat; pods pale dull brown; plants from near Morawa SE to Hines Hill and E to Boorabbin (W of 120 30’ Long.)
2 Phyllodes 1-2 mm wide
subsp. conformis
2: Phyllodes 3-6 mm wide
subsp. latifolia
Acacia inceana Domin subsp. inceana
Phyllodes terete, 4–8.5 cm long, glabrous; tip straight or curved, pungent to coarsely pungent. Peduncles 3–5 mm long; flower-heads 20–30-flowered; sepals narrowly oblong. Pods to 8.5 cm long, tan; seeds not seen.
Occurs N and E of Kalgoorlie within a 35 km radius, excluding one specimen from Binneringie Stn, c. 100 km due SE of Kalgoorlie, W.A. Grows in red soil with scattered eucalypts and in low semi-dense shrub associations, rarely in saline habitats.
Differs from subspecies conformis by phyllode shape, habitat preference, distribution and pod colour.
Type of accepted name
W.A., W.H.Ince ; holo: K; iso: NSW, PR527977 (Fragment ex K).
Synonymy
Acacia inceae Maiden & Blakely, J. Roy. Soc. W. Australia 13: 8; pl. 5, figs 7–10 (1928). Type: W.A., W.H.Ince ; holo: K; iso: NSW, PR527977 (Fragment ex K).
Representative collections
W.A.: Binneringie Stn, J.S.Beard 6273 (NSW, PERTH); N side of Arrow Lake, 26 km N of Kalgoorlie on road to Comet Vale, B.R.Maslin 4846 (PERTH); Bulong, 32 km E of Kalgoorlie, B.Severne 8744 (PERTH)
Acacia inceana subsp. conformis R.S.Cowan & Maslin, Nuytsia 10: 234 (1995)
Phyllodes subterete to flat, 4–7 cm long, 1–2 mm wide, at first appressed-puberulous, glabrescent; tip delicately curved-acuminate. Peduncles 5–6 mm long, bearing 10–15-flowered heads; sepals spathulate. Pods to 7 cm long, pale dull brown.
Extends from near Morawa SE to Hines Hill and E to Boorabbin (c. 90 km W of Coolgardie), W.A. A highly salt-tolerant species growing in alkaline, dark red-brown, coarse clay-sand overlying yellow-brown coarse clay-sand or sandy loam at margins of salt pans or lakes.
Similar to the typical subspecies which has terete, curved-cuspidate phyllodes, shorter peduncles, heads with fewer flowers and tan-coloured pods; separated from subsp. conformis by its narrower phyllodes.
Type of accepted name
3.9 miles [c. 6 km] S of Morawa towards Perenjori, W.A., 31 Aug. 1982, R.J.Cumming 2199 ; holo: PERTH; iso: CANB, K.
Representative collections
W.A.: 4.5 km N of Kalannie on Goodland Rd, G.Craig 1600 (NY, PERTH) and 1632A (NSW, PERTH); near L. O’Grady on Black Rd, c. 18 km NE of Kulja, G.Craig 1622 (MEL, PERTH); 3.5 km from Hines Hill torwards Nungarin, B.R.Maslin 2339A (CANB, K, PERTH).
Acacia inceana subsp. latifolia Maslin (ms)
Phyllodes mostly 4–7 cm long, 3–4(-6) mm wide, at first appressed-puberulous, glabrescent; tip delicately curved-acuminate. Peduncles 3–5(-7) mm long, bearing 15–25-flowered heads; sepals spathulate. Pods to 10 cm long, pale brown.
Restricted to a relatively small area in the vicinity of Jibberding, east of Wubin, W.A. Occurs in red-brown sandy loam on slight rises around the margins of saline areas dominated by Samphires.
Distinguished from the other two subspecis by its broad, flat phyllodes.
Representative collections
31.5 km NE of Wubin towards Paynes Find, R.Coveny 7873 & B.R.Maslin (NSW, PERTH) and B.R.Maslin 4210 (CANB, MEL, PERTH); Rabbit Proof Fence Rd E of Wubin, 0.1 km S of Great Northern Hwy, B.R.Maslin 7741 (PERTH).
The Fl. Australia treatment of A. inceana has been modified here in WATTLE to include the undescribed taxon, subsp. latifolia, which was recognized in: Maslin, B.R. (1998), Wattle of the Kalannie region: their identification, characteristics and utilisation. CDROM Publication. (Department of Conservation and Land Management: Perth.)
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.
