Acacia cheelii Blakely, Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales ser. 2, 42: 441 (1917)
Motherumbah
Slender, glaucous tree to 10 m high. Bark ribbony or flaky, brownish to red-brown. Branchlets angular or flattened towards apex, red-brown or brown, glabrous, often pruinose. Phyllodes mostly very narrowly elliptic, straight to markedly falcate, flat, 6–23 cm long, 6–32 mm wide, coriaceous, glabrous, with 3–6 ±prominent main veins continuous to base, the minor veins 4–10 per mm, parallel, not anastomosing; gland inconspicuous, basal. Spikes 2–6.2 cm long, golden. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 0.4–0.8 mm long, cut to 1/4, lower half villous, the apex to 1/2 way down with red-brown or black glandular hairs; corolla 1.5–2.1 mm long, cut to 1/2, glabrous or with few hairs; ovary densely pubescent. Pods linear, slightly moniliform, mostly 5–11 cm long, ±woody to coriaceous, scurfy, hairy near base. Seeds longitudinal, oblongoid to narrowly oblong or elliptic, 3.7–6.7 mm long, brownish black; pleurogram often with dark halo; areole open.
Occurs mainly on the north-western plains and north-western slopes of the Great Dividing Ra., N.S.W., between 29º32’S and 149º152’E, also in the Hunter R. Valley, in eucalypt woodland and scrub especially on rocky or stony hillsides and hilltops, usually in skeletal or sandy soils. Flowers Aug.–late Oct.; fruits: Nov. & Dec.
Acacia cheelii is closely related to A. blakei from which it is distinguished by the larger flowers giving the spikes a robust appearance, the larger phyllodes and the shorter axillary shoots supporting the spikes. Also related to A. matthewii. Acacia williamsiana is also in this group; it is restricted to granitic outcrops in the ranges of northeastern N.S.W. and is distinguished from A. cheelii by having straight to very slightly curved, dimorphic phyllodes, and paired, sessile flower heads on a much-reduced, obscure raceme axis to 1 mm long
Type of accepted name
Manilla, N.S.W., Sept. 1916, L.H.Preston ; lecto: NSW, fide M.D.Tindale et al ., Austral. Syst. Bot. 5: 651 (1992); Manilla, N.S.W., Dec. 1916, L.H.Preston ; paralecto: K, NSW; Manilla, c. 10 miles [16 km] from town, N.S.W., Sept. 1916, H.Stoddart ; paralecto: K, NSW.
Illustrations
I.Armitage, Acacias New South Wales 150 (1978); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 48, fig. 25; pl. 25 (1992); M.D.Tindale et al ., Austral. Syst. Bot . 5: 646, fig. 1, 653, fig. 4 & 655, fig. 5c, e, f (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: Nandewar Ra., Mt Kaputar Rd, B.G.Briggs (NSW53771); Barbers Pinacle, Boggabri, R.H.Cambage 2470 (NSW); 98.2 km SW of Bingara on the Narrabri road, R.Coveny 12342 & J.Dalby (B, BRI, K, HO, MEL, MO, NY, PERTH, TL); near Mt Wheoh, Warrumbungle Natl Park, G.Harden 9 (NSW).
(NSW)
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.
