Acacia lycopodiifolia A.Cunn. ex Hook., Icon. Pl . 2: t. 172 (1837)
Spreading shrub to 1 m high. Stems velvety, pubescent or pilose with erect, white hairs. Stipules 0.6–1.2 mm long. Phyllodes in whorls of 10–14, spreading to erect, straight or recurved, slightly flattened, 2–4 (–9) mm long, with setaceous, curved mucro 1–1.5 mm long, velvety to pilose, sometimes viscid, with an obscure impressed adaxial nerve. Peduncles 10–24 mm long, pilose. Heads 30–40-flowered. Flowers 5- or 6-merous; calyx 0.5–0.9 mm long, ribbed, the lobes linear, thick, slightly incurved, glabrous or sparsely hairy, or occasionally fringed with hairs; corolla lobes striate, hispid. Pods sessile, sometimes constricted between seeds, to 55 mm long, 4–6 mm wide, glabrous or occasionally pubescent; margins slightly thickened. Seeds longitudinal, 4–6 mm long; pleurogram open.
Occurs in shallow rocky sandstone soil on hills in the southern and eastern Kimberley region, W.A., and adjacent part of the N.T.
A highly variable species, characterised by longitudinal seeds, short phyllodes with a comparatively long mucro and white hairs, but variable in phyllode and mucro length, indumentum, and form of the calyx. Commonly has pubescent to pilose phyllodes 2–3 mm long with a mucro 1–2 mm long. Several collections from the N.T. (e.g. Jasper Gorge, 3 July 1974, J.H.Willis , MEL, PERTH) have phyllodes 3–4 mm long and show an approach to A. anasilla . One from near L. Argyle has phyllodes 5–7 mm long with a mucro 0.5–1 mm long. Another from Mt Hart Stn has phyllodes 6–9 mm long which are glabrous or almost so. Specimens from Bedford Downs Stn ( C.H.Gittins 1419 , BRI) have yellow indumentum and spathulate calyx lobes. Specimens from Katherine Gorge and Edith and UDP Falls (e.g. J.D.Briggs 929 , MEL) have a sparser indumentum and shorter mucro than other material and are tentatively referred to this species.
Related to A. capillaris and A. smeringa and sometimes confused with A. adoxa var. adoxa and A. chippendalei . See also A. asperulacea .
Type of accepted name
Cambridge Gulf, [W.A.], A.Cunningham ; n.v .
Synonymy
Racosperma lycopodiifolium (A.Cunn. ex Hook.) Pedley, Bot. J. Linn. Soc . 92: 240 (1986). Type: as for accepted name.
Acacia lycopodiifolia var. setifera Domin (as ‘lycopodifolia’ ), Biblioth. Bot . 89: 252 (1926). Type: upper Victoria R., [N.T.], Dec. 1855, F.Mueller ; iso: MEL.
Acacia lycopodiifolia var. typica Domin, Biblioth. Bot . 89: 252 (1926), nom. inval.
Illustrations
L.Pedley, Contr. Queensland Herb . 11: 3, fig 1d (1972); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 67 (1981).
Representative collections
W.A.: 45 km NE of Springvale Stn, Apr. 1955, M.Lazarides 5068 (BRI, CANB, MEL, NSW, NT, PERTH); 6 km NE of Wyndham Pumping Stn, J.R.Maconochie 131 (BRI, NT); Inglis Gap, King Leopold Ra., H.Streimann 8248 (CANB, DNA, PERTH). N.T.: 64 km SE of Timber Creek Police Stn, R.A.Perry & M.Lazarides 2875 (BRI, CANB, MEL, NSW, NT, PERTH); Katherine Gorge, 32 km NE of Katherine, L.G.Adams 897 (CANB, MEL, NSW, NT).
(ASG)
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.
