Acacia longissima Hort. ex H.L.Wendl., Comm. Acac. Aphyll . 5, 45, t. 11 (1820)
Narrow-leaf Wattle
Slender shrub or small, spreading tree to 5 m high. Stipules scarious, less than 0.5 mm long or obscure. Phyllodes linear, commonly straight, 6–18 cm long, 1–10 mm wide, mostly acute, thin, dark green; mostly with 3–7 veins, sparingly anastomosing, the midrib often prominent; gland obscure or absent; pulvinus present. Inflorescences with peduncles 5–10 mm long; spikes mostly twinned, interrupted, 2.5–5 cm long; bracteoles cupular, 0.3–0.5 mm long, glabrous or almost so. Flowers scattered, 4-merous; sepals united. Pods subterete, slightly constricted between seeds, straight or curved, 9–12 cm long, 3–4 mm wide. Seeds narrowly elliptic, 5–6 mm long, dull brown; funicle thick, folded about 6 times; aril turbinate.
A near coastal species occurring principally in the Nambour and Nerang districts of south-eastern Qld with outliers at Gin Gin near Bundaberg and Mt Nebo near Brisbane, the Mullumbimby district on the far northern coast of N.S.W., the Sydney district and in the Batemans Bay-Moruya district on the south coast of N.S.W. It usually inhabits the borders of rainforests and it is sometimes locally common. It usually flowers Jan.–May but fruits rarely and so far has been noted as fruiting only during Nov.
Differs from A. longifolia in its longer and narrower phyllodes and its much paler flowers and from both A. courtii and A. orites in its shrub-like habit (unlike the latter two species, it is rarely a small tree).
Type of accepted name
?Cultivated in London, without date, ? Lee s.n. ; lecto: GOET (in herb. Wendland), fide A.B.Court (to be published in Appendix to Fl. Australia vol. 11, 2001) ; isolecto/syn: CANB, PERTH (Photo seen).
Synonymy
Acacia linearis var. longissima (Hort. ex H.L.Wendl.) DC., Prodr. 2: 454 (1825); A. linearis f. longissima (Hort. ex H.L.Wendl.) Siebert & Voss, Vilm. Blumengrtn. edn3, 1: 228 (1896); Racosperma longissimum (Hort. ex H.L.Wendl.) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 352 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Acacia linearis Sims, Bot. Mag. 47: t. 2156 (1820), non Desv. ex Ham. (1825), (J.C.Wendl.) Hochr. (1925) nec (J.C.Wendl.) J.F.Macbr. (1919); A. longifolia var. linearis (Sims) F.Muell., Pl. Victoria 2: 31 (1863) nom. inval. [not effectively published, fide A.B.Court, R.S.Cowan & B.R.Maslin, Nuytsia 9(3): 315–318 (1994)]; A. mucronata Willd. ex H.L.Wendl. var. linearis (Sims) Rodway, Tasman. Fl. 42 (1903), p.p. Type: New Holland [Australia], coll. and date unknown; n.v.
Illustrations
B.A.Lebler, Wildfl. SE Queensland 2: 17 (1981); L.Costermans, Native Trees Shrubs SE Australia 304 (1981); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 39, pl. 13 (1992).
Representative collections
Qld: back of Gin Gin, WSW of Bundaberg, Jan. 1931, G.K.Jackson s.n. (BRI); Mt Nebo, Daguilar Ra., I.R.Telford 689 (CANB); N.S.W.: near Broken Head, S of Byron Bay, C.Bell 553 (BRI); Wahroonga, 30 Dec. 1968, C.Burgess s.n. (CANB); c. 1 mile [1.6 km] from Nelligen towards Batemans Bay, E.M.Canning 2853 (CANB, MEL).
(ABC)
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.
