Acacia lucasii Blakely, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 62: 215; pl. 20 (1928)
Woolly-bear Wattle , Lucas’s Wattle
Shrub to 4 m high. Branchlets tomentulose, the hairs ferruginous on young new shoots but ageing silvery white. Stipules 2–4 mm long. Phyllodes crowded, ascending to erect, often slightly asymmetric, elliptic to narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, 1.5–3 (– 6) cm long, 6–15 mm wide, undulate, acute to obtuse-mucronate, grey-green, tomentulose; midrib and marginal nerves prominent; lateral nerves obscure; gland obscure, 0–8 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple or in axillary or terminal racemes 2.5–4 cm long; peduncles 1–4 mm long, stout, tomentulose; heads obloid, densely 20–40-flowered, bright light golden; bracteoles exserted in buds. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods oblong to narrowly oblong, to c. 4 cm long, 8–14 mm wide, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous, densely tomentulose with ferruginous hairs. Seeds transverse to oblique, oblong, 4–6 mm long, somewhat shiny, black, arillate.
Known from only two areas of the Great Divide, namely, the upper Tuross R. area, N.S.W., and the Nunniong Plateau, Vic. Grows in rocky areas on granite or quartzite, sometimes in heath, but often as understorey in eucalypt woodland or forest.
Very distinctive on account of its ferruginous-tomentulose new growth and pods. Most closely allied to A. costiniana . These two species share with A. dorothea the unusual combination of characters of 1-nerved phyllodes and obloid flower-heads.
Type of accepted name
Bumbury [Bumberry] Ck and Hill Green, 3 miles [4.8 km] from camp towards Wadbilliga, Tuross R. district, N.S.W., 16 Jan. 1928, M.A.Harnett s.n .; holo: NSW; iso: MEL.
Illustrations
W.F.Blakely, loc. cit. ; M.D.Tindale, Telopea 1: 445, pl. 24 (1980); L.F.Costermans, Native Trees & Shrubs SE Australia 314 (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 2: 99 (1988); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 168, fig. 189, pl. 189 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: Wadbilliga fire trail between Tuross R. and Bumberry Ck, 37 km ESE of Cooma, R.Coveny 6595 et al. (NSW, PERTH). Vic.: Brumby Point, Nunniong Plateau (between Reedy and Little Reedy Rivers), 11 Oct. 1964, K.C.Rogers s.n . (MEL, 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.
