Acacia meiantha Tindale & Herscovitch, in M.D.Tindale et al ., Austral. Syst. Bot. 5: 761; 763, fig. 1 & 764, fig. 2 (1992)
Erect or straggling shrub, 1–2.4 m high. Bark smooth. Branchlets angled apically, clothed with short stiff hairs to 0.2 mm long, with prevalent lenticels, the phyllode bases persistent. Bipinnate leaves sometimes present. Phyllodes crowded, erect or retrorse, linear, subterete to flattened, 1–5.5 cm long, 0.4–1 mm wide, with curved mucro (0.2–0.5 mm long), glabrous or almost so; midrib obscure; gland basal, round; pulvinus slightly hairy. Inflorescences racemose; raceme axes (0.3–) 1.5–3 (–7) cm long, puberulous to glabrous; peduncles 2–4.5 mm long, puberulous to glabrous; heads globular, 4–8-flowered, yellow to dark yellow. Flowers 5-merous; calyx membranous, dissected to 1/4–2/5, with broadly deltate sepals, the tube slightly hairy. Pods narrowly oblong, scarcely constricted between seeds, flat, to 8.5 cm long, 4–7 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, light brown, smooth. Seeds longitudinal, black; areole narrowly elliptic-oblong.
Only recorded from N.S.W. in the Mullions Ra., N of Orange, and near Clarence, Blue Mtns. Grows mainly in eucalypt woodland, not on rocky outcrops. Flowers July–Oct.
This species appears to rarely produce seed, but reproduces by underground runners. It is closely allied to A. boormanii which is distinguished by its habit (slender shrub or tree to 4 m high or sometimes taller), larger phyllodes (3-6 (-9) cm long, 1-2.5 mm wide), branchlets which are glabrous or rarely with a few hairs, and the basal gland on the phyllode being 2-15 mm above the pulvinus. See also A. linifolia .
Type of accepted name
Long Point Rd, Mullions Ra., 4.8 or 6.4 km N of Mullion Ck, N.S.W., 23 Aug. 1959, W.E.Giles ; holo: NSW; iso: BRI, K, MO, PERTH, US.
Illustrations
M.D.Tindale et al ., loc. cit .
Representative collections
N.S.W.: Mullions Ra., R.G.Coveny 10247 (AD, B, BM, BRI, CANB, GH, K, L, MO, NSW, NY, PERTH, UC, UNSW, US, Z); Long Pt Rd, 27 Dec. 1959, W.E.Giles (NSW); Bells Line of Rd, Clarence, P.Hind 6076 et al. (AD, BRI, CANB, K, MEL, MO, NSW, PERTH, UC, US, Z) and P.G.Kodela 191 & P.D.Hind (CANB, HO, NSW, PERTH, UNSW).
(MDT & PGK)
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.
