Acacia affin. rigens
Obconic or rounded, dense, spreading, multi-stemmed shrubs 0.7–1.7 m tall. Bark smooth and grey to ends of branchlets. Branchlets minutely hairy near base of phyllodes. Phyllodes terete, short-acuminate with dark brown, innocuous or somewhat pungent points, 2.5–5 cm long, 0.7–1 mm wide, sub-rigid, erect, shallowly incurved, glabrous (except hairy on upper surface of pulvinus and at extreme base of lamina); longitudinal nerves numerous, very fine and close together. Inflorescences simple; heads globular to slightly obloid, 16–18-flowered; peduncles 2–3 mm long, hairy (but the indumentum obscured by resin). Flowers 5-merous; sepals free to variably united. Pods moniliform to sub-moniliform, 3.5–6 cm long, 1.8–2.2 mm wide, chartaceous to very thinly crustaceous, readily breaking into 1- or few-seeded articles at constrictions between seeds, glabrous, yellow-brownish. Seeds oblong-elliptic, 2.5–3 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, very dark brown to blackish; aril terminal and creamy white.
Locally abundant but known from only two populations NE of Kalannie, W.A. Grows on hard brown granitic clay-loam beneath Mallee eucalypts ( Eucalyptus subangusta and E. celastroides ) and Melaleuca uncinata .
The taxonomic status of this poorly known, apparently rare taxon requries further study; it appears to have some affinities with A. rigens .
Representative collections
W.A.: NE of Kalannie (precise localities withheld for conservation reasons), E.Hudson s.n. , Sept. 1997 (PERTH) and B.R.Maslin 7519 (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.
