Acacia suberosa A.Cunn. ex Benth., London J. Bot . 1: 499 (1842)
Corkybark Wattle , Mimosa
Slender shrub or tree to 14 m high; canopy conical or columner; branches short, horizontal and sometimes drooping. Bark hard, corky, deeply fissured. Branchlets with longitudinal furrows, moderately to densely pubescent or pilose especially when young, becoming almost glabrous and often flaky. Stipular spines 2–13.5 mm long, often diminutive and appearing absent. Leaves up to 7 arising from nodes: petiole mostly 0.1–0.7 cm long, pubescent, mostly with a small gland at base of pinnae; rachis when present 0.1–0.2 cm long; pinnae 1 (rarely 2) pairs, 0.3–1.8 cm long; pinnules 5–16 (–19) pairs, narrowly oblong to cultrate, sometimes oblong, elliptic or lanceolate, 1.1–4.5 mm long, 0.4–1.3 mm wide, pilose, the hairs often mainly on the margins and sparse on both surfaces . Inflorescences simple, solitary in axils; peduncles 2–10 mm long, with involucel of bracts c. 1/2 way or below; heads globular, 4–7-flowered, white to pale yellow. Pods flat except slightly raised over seeds, 4–20 cm long, 7–14 mm wide, coriaceous, pale olive, brown, grey or grey-green, longitudinally striate, becoming ridged, puberulous to pubescent or velvety. Seeds white-villous though areole often partly glabrous.
Occurs in the Kimberley region of W.A. from Carson R. area (near Kalumburu) and the Mitchell Plateau S to Fitzroy R. and Fitzroy Crossing, and known from a single collection in the N.T. c. 13 km NE of Oenpelli Mission. Grows often in grasslands, forming colonies of shrubs or trees which may be dominant or co-dominant with Bauhinia , sometimes in eucalypt woodland, frequently in grey or black, cracking, clayey soils or occasionally in sandy loam, on grassed mudflats, floodplains, in creek alluvium or on the fringe of downs in calcareous soil, sometimes in basaltic soils. Flowers recorded Feb., Apr.–Aug.; fruits July–Sept., Nov.
Foliage and pods eaten by stock.
Type of accepted name
Careening Bay, North West Coast, [W.A.], 3rd Voyage of ‘Mermaid’, Sept. 1820, A.Cunningham 300 ; lecto: K, fide P.G.Kodela (to be published in Appendix to Fl. Australia vol. 11, 2001) ; isolecto: BM; Encounter Cove, Vansittart Bay, North West Coast, [W.A.], 2nd Voyage of ‘Mermaid’, Oct. 1819, A.Cunningham 488 ; paralecto: BM, K.
Illustrations
F.Mueller, Iconogr. Austral. Acacia dec. 12 [pl. 3] (1888); R.J.Petheram & B.Kok, Pl. Kimberley Region W. Australia 364 (1983); J.R.Wheeler, in J.R.Wheeler (ed.) et al ., Fl. Kimberley Region 332, fig. 98D (1992).
Representative collections
W.A.: c. 25 miles [40 km] S Fitzroy Crossing, N.Byrnes 2228 (K, NSW, DNA, PERTH); near Mount House HS, Kimberley, C.H.Gittins 1436 (NSW); 2 km NE of Surveyors Falls, Mitchell Plateau, NW Kimberley, K.F.Kenneally 7045 (PERTH, TLF); 10 miles [16.1 km] E of Kimberley Downs Stn, M.Lazarides 6515 (CANB, K, NSW, PERTH). N.T.: c. 8 miles [12.8 km] NE of Oenpelli Mission, M.Lazarides 7744 (CANB, K, NSW, PERTH).
(PGK & MDT)
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.
