Acacia chippendalei Pedley, Contr. Queensland Herb . 11: 12 (1972)
Spreading shrub usually to 0.5 m high. Stems velvety-tomentose with erect, spreading white hairs. Stipules 0.4–1 mm long. Phyllodes in whorls of 8–11, ascending, slightly flattened, straight or slightly recurved at apex, 2.5–8 mm long, shortly mucronate, pilose, with an obscure adaxial nerve. Peduncles 4–20 mm long, tomentose to pilose. Heads 20–25-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 0.6–1 mm long, sparsely hairy, the lobes triangular, obtuse, acute or acuminate; corolla lobes striate, hairy towards apex. Pods sessile, linear, sometimes contracted between seeds, 15–70 mm long, 5–7 mm wide, glabrous, viscid; margins somewhat thickened. Seeds longitudinal or slightly oblique, 3.5–4 mm long; pleurogram open.
Occurs from the Sir Frederick Ra., W.A., through central N.T. to the Cloncurry–Mt Isa area, Qld. Grows in skeletal rocky soils and in deep sand, often of lateritic origin.
Specimens from the Macdonnell and Sir Frederick Ranges have usually longer and stouter phyllodes, and somewhat larger flowers with a more deeply lobed calyx. Sometimes grows to 3 m tall. Sterile specimens of A. chippendalei often cannot be distinguished with certainty from A. adoxa , but the arrangement of the seeds, and the ribbing and lobing of the calyx differentiate the two. Acacia chippendalei has been confused with A. lycopodiifolia but it lacks the prominent seta of the phyllode and the structure of the calyx is different. See also A. orthotricha .
Type of accepted name
17 miles [27 km] W of Rockhampton Downs Stn turnoff, Qld, Aug. 1955, G.M.Chippendale NT 1532 ; holo: BRI; iso: BRI, CANB, NT, PERTH.
Synonymy
Racosperma chippendalei (Pedley) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 346 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
L.Pedley, Contr. Queensland Herb . 11: 3, Fig. 1a (1972), B.R.Maslin in J.P.Jessop (ed.), Fl. Centr. Australia : 117, fig. 157D (1981).
Representative collections
W.A.: Sir Frederick Ra., D.E.Symon 2234 (AD, CANB, K). N.T.: 16 km S of Elliott, N.Byrnes 1171 (BRI, NT,); 27 km W of Rockhampton Downs Stn turn off, G.M.Chippendale 1532 (BRI, CANB, NT, PERTH); c. 5 km W of Barrys Caves, R.C.Carolin 7330 (NSW). Qld: 27 km from Mt Isa on Camooweal rd, C.H.Gittins 753 (BRI).
(ASG)
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.
