Acacia cataractae Tindale & Kodela, Telopea 5: 56, fig. 2 & 60, fig. 3a (1992)
Shrub to 2 m high. Bark fibrous, brown. Branchlets markedly angled to almost flattened towards apices, glabrous, with resinous, minutely crenulated ridges. Phyllodes oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate or very narrowly elliptic, flat, straight or very slightly curved, mostly 4–10.5 cm long, 6.5–23 mm wide, with blunt, red-brown mucro at obtuse apex, thinly coriaceous, glabrous, with 1 of 3 prominent longitudinal veins usually confluent with lower margin 0.5–1.7 cm from pulvinus, sometimes with 4 subprominent longitudinal veins, other veins faint, moderately anastomosing; gland basal, elliptic swelling on upper margin. Peduncles 4–12 mm long. Spikes 1–3 in upper axils of phyllodes, 10–50 mm long, usually bright to golden yellow. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 0.75–1 mm long, dissected by 2/3 or more, membranous; corolla 1–1.5 mm long, dissected 1/3–1/2, the petals with faint midrib. Pods very narrowly oblanceolate, the base tapering gradually, slightly raised over seeds, straight or very slightly curved, 2.6–5 cm long, with hooked apex, woody, brown, with conspicuous diagonal veins and some anastomosing, glabrous; margins thickened. Seeds oblique, 2.7–5.3 mm long, glossy, brown; areole open; funicle-aril conical.
From Bathurst Is. and the Maningrida area, south to Umbrawarra Gorge (1358’S) near Pine Creek, N.T. Grows in sandy soil, near streams in sandstone plateau-gorge country and on coastal flats. Flowers late Dec.-July.
A member of the tropical ' A. stigmatophylla group' most nearly related to A. stigmatophylla which differs in having phyllodes with all three prominent longitudinal veins reaching the base, calyces 0.5-0.75 mm long, cupular and dissected by 1/8-1/5, and petals with a prominent midrib.
Type of accepted name
Above U.D.P. Falls [Gunlom Falls, on Waterfall Ck], N.T., 3 May 1975, C.H.Gittins 2851 ; holo: NSW; iso: BRI, CANB, DNA, K.
Illustrations
M.D.Tindale & P.G.Kodela, loc. cit.
Representative collections
N.T.: Umbrawarra Gorge Rd, J.Brock 94 (DNA); Maningrida area, Clark 1306 (BRI, DNA); Waterfall Ck, M.Hancock 364 (CANB, DNA, K, NSW, PERTH); Bathurst Is., Stevenson 159 (DNA).
(PGK & MDT)
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.
