Acacia affin. quadrimarginea
Obconic, glabrous trees 3–4 m tall, crowns flat-topped to sub-rounded and widely spreading. Branchlets often pendulous. Phyllodes falcately recurved, acuminate to caudate, 8–10 (– 12) cm long, 4–8 mm wide, widely spreading, slightly shiny, dark green; longitudinal nerves numerous, fine and close together, the central nerve often slightly more pronounced than the rest, anastomoses absent; marginal nerves discrete and light brown. Inflorescences normally simple, 1–3 per axil; spikes short; buds resinous; peduncles 1–2 mm long, to 5 mm long when in fruit. Flowers 5-merous. Pods normally sub-moniliform, 6–12 cm long, (5– ) 6–9 mm wide, curved, firmly coriaceous-crustaceous to sub-woody, margins not winged as in A. quadrimarginea . Seeds oblong to elliptic, 7.5–8 mm long, 5.5–8 mm wide, slightly shiny, blackish; aril terminal, small.
Scattered from near Gascoyne Junction in the Murchison district, S through Mount Magnet to about 50 km NE of Kalannie, W.A. Restricted to granite rocks.
Until recently plants of this taxon had been referred to its close relative, A. quadrimarginea . However, A. quadrimarginea is readily recognized by its distinctive pods which although flat often appear almost quadrangular through the development of a marginal wing perpendicular to the face of the valve. These wings are absent from the pods of A. affin. quadrimarginea although a distinct marginal nerve is present. Also, the pods of A. affin. quadrimarginea are normally submoniliform (occasionally moniliform) and distinctly raised over the seeds. In the absence of pods it is difficult distinguishing between these two species. Further study and collections are needed, especially flowering material, before A. affin. quadrimarginea can be formally described.
Representative collections
W.A.: Koolanooka Hills, 22 km due E of Morawa, B.R.Maslin 6602 (PERTH); "The Granites", 7 km N of Mount Magnet (and c. 1 km E of Great Northern Hwy), B.R.Maslin 7331 (PERTH); about 45 km due NE of Kalannie, B.R.Maslin 7762 (PERTH); Pullagaroo Stn, A.L.Payne 30040 (PERTH).
(BRM)
This species was not included in the Fl. Australia treatment of Acacia . The above account is based on the treatment presented in: Maslin, B.R. (1998), Wattle of the Kalannie region: their identification, characteristics and utilisation. CDROM Publication. (Department of Conservation and Land Management: Perth.)
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.
