Acacia tindaleae Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 248 (1980)
Golden-top Wattle , Crowned Wattle
Spreading, compact shrub to 2 m high, allied to A. conferta but differing chiefly in the following ways. Branchlets densely villous with appressed hairs. Phyllodes with persistent, rather long, fine, weak, appressed hairs which impart a silvery grey appearance; gland at distal end of pulvinus. Peduncle indumentum dense and appressed, sometimes glabrous in fruit; heads larger than in A. conferta , 27–38-flowered. Sepals 2/3–3/4 united; petals 2–2.2 mm long. Pods normally to 4 cm long, 8–10 mm wide; stipe 1–2 mm long.
Occurs on the western slopes and plains of N.S.W. from Cuttabri S to Dubbo and W to near Mt Hope, common in the Pilliga Scrub; uncommon in Qld where it is known only from Mantuan Downs (see below). In N.S.W. the species grows on sand in Eucalyptus - Callitris dry sclerophyll forest, woodland and mallee communities.
The above description applies to plants from N.S.W. and to G.Russell 78/102 from near the type locality in Qld. Other Qld specimens from the type locality (including the type itself), and also Mitchell ‘263’ which was cited in the protologue are unusual in having some characters approaching those of A. conferta , e.g. glabrous or subglabrous peduncles, gland 0.5–1 mm above pulvinus and branchlets with short, spreading hairs. Further studies are required to ascertain the nature of the relationship between these Qld variants, the N.S.W. plants called A. tindaleae and A. conferta . The phyllodes of A. tindaleae may superficially resemble some forms of A. lineata .
Type of accepted name
6 km E of Mantuan Downs, Qld, 14 Aug. 1973, L.Pedley 4115 ; holo: BRI; iso: CANB.
Synonymy
Racosperma tindaleae (Pedley) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 356 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Acacia conferta A.Cunn. ex Benth, not as to lectotype, as to Australia, Bauer ; paralecto: K.
Illustrations
G.M.Cunningham et al. , Pl. W New South Wales 374 (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 2: 83 (1988); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 127, fig. 133, pl. 133 (1992).
Representative collections
Qld: 148 km from Tambo on the road to Springsure, G.Russell 78/102 (BRI). N.S.W.: 15 km SW of Eumungerie on the Narromine road, R.Coveny 12093 & P. Hind (NSW, PERTH); 12.2 km from junction on Baradine- Pilliga road, on the ‘Forest Rd’ to Narrabri, N.Hall H78/18 (NSW, 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.
