Acacia affin. papyrocarpa
Small tree to c. 5 m tall, crown spreading. Branchlets appressed hairy. Phyllodes +/- terete to flat, linear, +/- pungent, (30–) 35–95 (–115) mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, rather rigid, straight to shallowly incurved, rather obscurely multistriate, sometimes sparsely longitudinally sulcate when dry, minutely appressed hairy. Inflorescences rudimentary few-branched racemes to 3 mm long; peduncles 4–10 mm long, appressed hairy; receptacle yellow-hairy; heads globular, (16–) 20–30 (–34)-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; calyx gamosepalous, dissected for or more into broadlly triangular lobes. Pods (slightly immature) narrowly oblong, scarcely raised over seeds or constricted between them, to 6 cm long, 5–7 mm wide, straight to shallowly curved, thinly coriaceous, minutely appressed hairy, finely openly reticulate. Seeds (slightly immature) longitudinal, flattened.
Based on the few collections to hand this taxon appears to be most common in the vicinity of Lake Torrens and the NW edge of the Flinders Ra., S.A., but it has also been recorded from the vicinity of Blythe Ra. in W.A., near the S.A. border. Appears to be restricted to low rocky hills.
This taxon was treated as ‘A. sp. affin. papyrocarpa’ by B.R.Maslin, in J.P.Jessop (ed.), Fl. Central Australia 137 (1981). Also, the description of A. papyrocarpa Benth. which was provided by J.Black in Fl. S. Australia , 2nd edn, pt. 2: 423 (1948) was based in part on the Koch 274 collection (see below).
Further field and laboratory studies are needed to determine the status of this taxon. It is clearly related to A. papyrocarpa but differs most obviously in having rigid, often subterete, +/- pungent phyllodes and minutely appressed hairy, reticulately veined pods.
Representative collections
W.A.: near Blythe Ra., 1898, W.V.Fitzgerald s.n. (PERTH). S.A.: 2 km N of Lane Dam, Bosworth Stn, F.J.Badman 5073 (AD, PERTH); Mount Lyndhurst, M.Koch 274 (AD, BM, DBN, K, M, NSW, PERTH).
(BRM & MO’L)
This taxon is noted in Fl. Australia in the discussion under A. papyrocarpa .
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.
