Acacia obtecta Maiden & Blakely, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. Western Australia 13: 20; pl. 5, figs 1–6 (1928)
Obconic shrub 1.5–3 m high. Branchlets slightly ribbed, pale grey, glabrous. Phyllodes patent to ascending, linear to linear-oblanceolate, straight to slightly incurved, 7–10 cm long, 4–6 mm wide, with curved-acuminate or caudate-acuminate tip, glabrous, with 3 distant, slightly raised nerves per face, the minor nerves obscure and sometimes sparingly longitudinally anastomosing. Inflorescences simple, 1–4 per axil; peduncles 3–5 mm long, glabrous; heads globular, 5 mm diam., 20–36-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods moniliform, to 14 cm long, 7–9 mm wide, long-stipitate, chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic, 6–7.5 mm long, dull, mottled dark and light brown, exarillate.
Confined to but locally common in the Paynes Find- Wubin- Kununoppin area of south-western W.A., excluding the type locality at Lake Barlee. Grows in red loam or clay.
Seemingly most nearly related to A. speckii which is most readily distinguished by its terete phyllodes. Also similar in appearance to A. heteroclita , which has very different pods with arillate seeds, longer peduncles, usually golden-sericeous new shoots, and phyllodes with appressed-puberulous tips. Superficially similar to A. websteri (sect. Juliflorae ).
Type of accepted name
Between Kununoppin and Mt Marshall, about long. 118, lat. 31, and Lake Barlee (long. 119–120, lat. 29–30), W.A., winter-spring 1919, F.Fraser per W.C.Grasby ; holo: NSW; iso: K, PERTH (Fragment ex NSW).
Illustration
J.H.Maiden & W.F.Blakely, loc. cit.
Representative collections
W.A.: Mt Churchman, 7 Apr. 1985, P.Loeper (PERTH); Bonnie Rock- Wialki, 11 Sept. 1957, A.R.Main (CANB, PERTH); 20 km S of Paynes Find on Great Northern Hwy, B.R.Maslin 5588 (BRI, K, MEL, NSW, PERTH).
(RSC)
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.
