Acacia whitei Maiden, Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 30: 35, pl. 2, figs 1–7 (1918)
Shrub to c. 2 m high. Bark light grey-brown. Branchlets angular towards apices, orange-brown or red-brown, later grey, tuberculate, with fine, nonconvoluted ridges. Phyllodes erect, very narrowly elliptic to linear or oblanceolate, straight or slightly curved, (3–) 5–16 cm long, 2–10 mm wide, coriaceous, with 1–7 main longitudinal, nonanastomosing nerves, 2 or 3 per mm, on either side of conspicuous midnerve; gland 1, minute, basal, to 0.5 mm above pulvinus. Spikes 0.5–1.8 cm long, c. 4–5 mm wide, yellow or bright yellow. Flowers mostly 5-merous, also 4- and 6-merous; calyx 0.7–1.2 mm long, sinuate or dissected for 1/3–1/2, glabrous or irregularly fimbriolate, squamulose; corolla 1.6–2.3 mm long, dissected for 2/5–5/7, glabrous; ovary thickly pubescent. Pods linear, straight-sided or very slightly constricted between seeds, straight or slightly curved, flat, 4–8 (–11) cm long, (5–) 7–8 (–10) mm wide, glabrous; margins prominent, pale. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic to orbicular, 4–5.5 mm long, brown or red-brown; pleurogram with broad halo; areole closed or scarcely open, fawn.
Occurs in north-eastern Qld in the Davies Ck region (SE of Mareeba), the Herberton–Watsonville area and Paluma Ra. (NW of Townsville). Grows in open eucalypt woodland in shallow stony or rhyolitic soils, often in rugged, hilly areas. Flowers Mar.–Dec.
Acacia whitei belongs to a small group of species native to N Qld, viz. A. guymeri and A. jackesiana . It also resembles A. hyaloneura in general appearance, but the former has conspicuous raised nerves, fairly dense spikes 1.5–2.5 cm long and very thin pods.
Type of accepted name
Stannary Hills, Qld, 1910, T.L.Bancroft ; syn: NSW.
Synonymy
Racosperma whitei (Maiden) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 357 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 1: 277 (1987); K.A.W.Williams, Native Pl. Queensland 4: 43 (1999).
Representative collections
Qld: 8 miles [12.9 km] from Paluma towards Ewan, C.H.Gittins 2415 (CANB, NSW); Davies Ck, Mareeba, H.S.McKee 9332 (NSW); Atherton, May 1919, H.W.Mocatta (NSW).
(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.
