Acacia rhodophloia Maslin, J. Adelaide Bot. Gard . 2: 317; 315, fig. 7 & 320, fig. 8 (1980)
Minni Ritchi
Spreading, resinous shrub or tree to 5 m high. Bark ‘Minni Ritchi’, red or maroon. Branchlets angular towards apices, red-brown or rusty-orange, puberulous to almost glabrous between faint, longitudinal, crenulate ridges. Phyllodes linear, very narrowly elliptic or very narrowly oblanceolate, flat, straight or falcate, (1.5–) 2.5–10 cm long, 2–8 (–13) mm wide, obtuse and mucronulate, sometimes coasely pungent, rigid, coriaceous, puberulous between nerves, rarely glabrous, finely multistriate, the minor nerves obscure, 8 or 9 per mm, the midnerve sometimes slightly broader; gland 1, obscure, basal. Globular capitula to cylindrical spikes 6–25 mm long. Flowers 5- or 6-merous; calyx 0.7–1.4 mm long, dissected to 1/6–1/3, papillose towards apex, the tube tomentellose, sometimes fimbriate; corolla 1.5–2.5 mm long, dissected to 1/4–1/3, glabrous; ovary papillose. Pods linear to cultrate, flat, 1.5–9 cm long, 2–6 (–7) mm wide, thin to cartilaginous, papillose. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic, 2–4.5 mm long, brown or black, often mottled; areole open, often yellowish.
Occurs in arid subtropical Australia from the Pilbara–Murchison regions, W.A., E to the Ehrenberg Ra. and S to Bloods Ra. and Docker Ck area, N.T., with a record N of Tarcoola in S.A.; mainly in a zone between 23S to 29S. Grows in drier areas, in red sandy soils or on rocky ground, often on laterite, quartzite or granite, in gullies along creeks, on plains, sand hills, mesas or scree slopes, in scrub heath, Casuarina scrub or frequently associated with spinifex. Flowers sporadically especially Mar.–Oct.
The two Tindale specimens from the type area (Murchison R.) are characterised by phyllodes 3–8 mm wide, pods c. 2 mm wide, and inflorescences round to broadly ellipsoidal. B.R.Maslin, op. cit . 318–319 (1980) stated that there are other recognisable forms. From Central Australian Desert areas there is a form with narrower phyllodes (2–4 mm wide), broader pods (3–6 mm wide) and spicate inflorescences (e.g. H.Martin UNSW3560G and Maslin 5678 ). He also recorded a variant from the Pilbara region, W.A., with smaller, fimbriate, nerveless calyces and interrupted spikes (e.g. Beard 6178 ); this variant is related to A. cyperophylla . Another variant is discussed by B.R.Maslin, Nuytsia 4: 98 (1982), from the Hamersley Ra., W.A., with narrowly elliptic (instead of linear) phyllodes 4.5–6.5 cm long and 5–8 mm wide. Further material and field investigations of this variable species are necessary.
Type of accepted name
395 mile peg on North West Coastal Hwy, i.e. 12 miles [19 km] N of Murchison R. crossing, W.A., 17 Sept. 1972, G.Phillips for A.M.Ashby 4494 ; holo: PERTH; iso: NSW, n.v .: BM, CANB, K, NY, PERTH.
Illustrations
B.R.Maslin, J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 2: 315, fig. 7 (1980); D.J.E.Whibley & D.E.Symon, Acacias S. Australia 2nd edn, 256 & 257 (1992).
Representative collections
W.A.: Maroonbah, J.S.Beard 6178 (NSW); Winduldurra Rock Hole, 51 miles [81.6 km] SW [of ]Warburton Mission, H.Martin (NSW, UNSW3560G); Gibson Desert, 71 km S by road from Warburton on road to Rawlinna, B.R.Maslin 5678 (NSW, PERTH); 14.4 miles [23.2 km] N of the bridge over the Murchison R. on NW Coastal Hwy, M.D.Tindale 2738 (NSW, PERTH); 16 miles [25.6 km] S of Murchison R. bridge, M.D.Tindale 1323 (BRI, CANB, K, NSW, PERTH, US). N.T.: Bloods Ra., J.R.Maconochie 1400 (DNA, NSW, NT, PERTH); 16 km East Docker R., J.R.Maconochie 1850 (AD n.v., BRI n.v., CANB n.v., DNA, K n.v., PERTH). S.A.: Mulgathing–Bulgunnia Stn fence, B.Lay 768 (AD).
(NSW)
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.
