Acacia boormanii

Acacia boormanii Maiden (as ‘Boormani’), J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 49: 489 (1916)

Snowy River Wattle

Bushy, slender shrub or tree to 4.5 m high, readily coppicing. Branchlets often faintly pruinose at extremities, glabrous. Phyllodes patent to erect, sometimes deflexed, narrowly linear, 3–6 (–8) cm long, usually 1.5–2 mm wide, narrowed at base, normally obliquely and excentrically mucronate, thin, usually green to grey-green, glabrous except pulvinus often sparsely hirsutellous adaxially; midrib and lateral nerves indistinct; gland not prominent, 2–15 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences 7–14-headed racemes; raceme axes 1–3 cm long, slender, straight to flexuose, glabrous to subglabrous, slightly pruinose especially when young; peduncles 2–3 mm long, slender, glabrous to subglabrous; heads prolific, globular, 5–10-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods linear, to 9 cm long, 4–6 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, glabrous, dehiscing unilaterally. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic, 4.5–5 mm long, ±shiny, black; aril 1/2–2/3 length of seed.

Occurs principally from S of Thredbo Village, N.S.W., S to Buchan, Vic. Further occurrences at Macanally Mtn, near Cooma, N.S.W., and variants at Mt Typo and Gapsted, near Myrtleford, Vic.

A variant from Mt Typo, c. 50 km SSW of Myrtleford, Vic., is recognised especially by its phyllodes which are often broader than normal (2–5 mm wide) and distinctly glaucous when young (e.g. F.E.Bienvenu T12 , PERTH). This variant, which hybridises with A. pravissima (e.g. F.E.Bienvenu 0013 , MEL), may resemble narrow phyllode forms of A. kettlewelliae but is distinguished by its narrower pods (c. 5 mm wide) and insignificant gland. Plants from Gapsted, W of Myrtleford, Vic., are morphologically similar, but unpublished chemical data suggests that they differ from both ‘typical’ A. boormanii and the Mt Typo variant (e.g. F.E.Bienvenu 0023 , MEL). Mt Typo and Gapsted are about 150 km W of the main occurrence of A. boormanii . Deflexed phyllodes, which are sometimes seen in A. boormanii , also occasionally occur in the long phyllode variant of A. kybeanensis .

A slow growing dwarf variant (usually c. 0.5 m high) with phyllodes 2–2.5 cm long occurs on high rocky ground at Splitters Ck, between Suggan Buggan and Wulgulmerang, north-eastern Vic. (e.g. W.Molyneux & S.Forrester , PERTH00891541): in WATTLE this variant is keyed and described separately, as A. infecunda . Dwarf variants of A. buxifolia subsp. buxifolia and A. pravissima occur in this same area: in WATTLE these two variants are treated as A. tabula and A. nanopravissima respectively.

An ornamental which is spectacular when in bloom. Useful as a windbreak or screening plant especially if use is made of suckering habit.

Similar to A. linifolia which has a more open habit, creamy yellow heads and broader pods. Also similar to A. meiantha .

Type of accepted name

Macnally Ranges [= Macanally Mtn], N.S.W., 25 Sept. 1913, J.L.Boorman s.n. ; holo: NSW166396; probable iso: C, CANB, K (all ‘27 Sept. 1913’) and NSW166408 (‘Sept. 1913’).

Synonymy

Acacia hunteriana Wakef., Victorian Naturalist 72: 92 (1955). Type: Banks of Snowy R., near Deddick, Vic., 8 Sept. 1955, N.A.Wakefield 4810 ; holo: MEL; iso: CANB, NSW.

[ Acacia linearis auct. non Sims (1820) nec (J.C.Wendl.) J.F.Macbr. (1919) nec (J.C.Wendl.) Hochr. (1925): H.B.Williamson, in A.J.Ewart, Fl. Victoria 1931: 594 (1931)]

Doubtful names

Acacia crassiuscula var. angustifolia Benth. and var. latifolia F.Muell.: see Doubtful Names.

Illustrations

G.R.Cochrane et al. , Fl. & Pl. Victoria 148 (1968); L.F.Costermans, Native Trees & Shrubs SE Australia 320 (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 2: 153 (1988); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 159, fig. 177, pls 177 & 177a (1992).

Representative collections

N.S.W.: Cowra Ck, Cooma, R.H.Cambage 1878 (NSW); Snowy R., 56 km SSW of Jindabyne, J.Pickard & R.Coveny 2756 (PERTH). Vic.: Snowy R. Track, 1.5 km from Snowy R., 7 km SE of Mt Menaak, H.van Rees 041 (NSW, PERTH).

(BRM)

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