Acacia pygmaea Maslin, Nuytsia 10: 99 (1995)
Dwarf, glabrous subshrub 0.3–0.5 m high. Branchlets prominently ribbed. Stipules shallowly triangular, c. 0.5 mm long. Phyllodes crowded, erect, elliptic to obovate, 20–30 mm long, 9–13 mm wide, obtuse, thin, green, 1-nerved or imperfectly 2-nerved; lateral nerves few and obscure; gland not prominent, 4–7 mm above base. Inflorescences simple, mostly 1 per axil; peduncles 4–7 mm long; heads globular, 3- or 4-flowered, white, drying orange; buds 4-angled. Flowers 4-merous, large; sepals 1/5 length of corolla, united into a truncate to sinuolately lobed calyx. Pods retrorse by a strongly recurved stipe, narrowly oblong, acute, to 30 mm long, 3–4 mm wide, crustaceous; margins thick. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic, 4–5 mm long, shiny, dark brown, arillate.
Known only from the type locality, south-western W.A., where it is confined to three adjacent laterite ridges in Eucalyptus woodland. Gazetted a rare species in W.A. Flowers from about Nov. to Mar.
A member of the ‘ A. myrtifolia group’ seemingly allied to A. disticha which is a taller shrub occurring c. 450 km S of the range of A. pygmaea and has obviously flattened branchlet-extremities with distichously arranged phyllodes and 6- or 7-flowered, cream-coloured heads on peduncles 7–11 mm long. Seemingly related to A. obovata and A. nervosa which are both dwarf members of this group.
Type of accepted name
Wongan Hills area [precise locality withheld for conservation reasons], W.A., 27 Oct. 1980, K.F.Kenneally 7496 ; holo: PERTH; iso: CANB, K.
Representative collections
W.A.: type locality, K.F.Kenneally 5891 (BRI, MEL, NSW, NY, PERTH) and B.R.Maslin 4804 (PERTH).
(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.
