Acacia calcicola Forde & Ising, Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Australia 81: 153; 154, fig. 1 & 156, fig. 2; pls 1 & 2 (1958)
Myall-gidgee , Northern Myall , Shrubby Mulga , Grey Myall , Shrubby Wattle
Rounded shrub or straggly tree 3–5 m high, often many-stemmed from base; canopy spreading and bushy. New shoots resinous, bright green and often yellow appressed-puberulous. Branchlets apically hoary or silvery appressed-puberulous. Phyllodes variable, narrowly linear to linear-oblanceolate or very narrowly elliptic, straight to shallowly curved, 5–14 cm long, 1–10 mm wide, normally uncinate, coriaceous, densely hoary or silvery appressed-puberulous, obscurely multistriate. Inflorescences 2–5-headed racemes; raceme axes 3–15 mm long, yellow or silvery appressed-puberulous; peduncles 2–8 mm long, with indumentum as on raceme axes; heads globular, 3–4 mm diam., 30–60-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods moniliform, to 12 cm long, 5–8 mm wide, woody, wrinkled over seeds, appressed-puberulous. Seeds longitudinal, elliptic, 6–8 mm long, dull, khaki-brown; aril clavate.
Widespread in arid central Australia, occurring principally in southern N.T. and north-western S.A. and just crossing into adjoining W.A., with scattered populations extending to south-western Qld and extreme north-western N.S.W. Grows in heavy calcareous soils, often over limestone, along ephemeral watercourses and on degraded sand dunes, in low open woodland and tall open shrubland, often with Acacia aneura .
The species was earlier confused with Acacia coriacea subsp. sericophylla which has longer phyllodes, united sepals, longitudinally striate pods and seeds with conspicuous, orange cap-like aril. Seems allied to A. latzii .
Type of accepted name
Evelyn Downs, 90 miles [144 km] by road SW of Oodnadatta, S.A., 12 Nov. 1954, E.H.Ising 3924 ; holo: AD; iso: CANB, K, NSW, P.
Synonymy
Racosperma calcicola (Forde & Ising) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 346 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
N.Forde & E.H.Ising, loc. cit. ; G.M.Cunningham et al. , Pl. W New South Wales 355 (1981); B.R.Maslin, in J.P.Jessop (ed.), Fl. Central Australia 123, fig. 160K (1981); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 87, fig. 76, pl. 76 (1992); D.J.E.Whibley & D.E.Symon, Acacias S. Australia 2nd edn, 233 (1992).
Representative collections
W.A.: Blackstone Ra. area, May 1957, R.Crocker & H.A.Laine (NSW). N.T.: c. 30 km E of Curtin Springs, J.R.Maconochie 2537 (NSW, PERTH). S.A.: 59.5 km S of Kenmore Park HS, N.Forde 896 (PERTH). Qld: 38.6 km W of Adavale, L.Pedley 2495 (PERTH). N.S.W.: Mt Stuart, N.C.W.Beadle 11/1940 (NSW).
(RSC)
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.
