Acacia confluens Maiden & Blakely, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 60: 183; pl. 16, figs 1–7 (1927)
Wyrilda
Shrub 2–3 m high; crown spreading and umbrella-like. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic, falcately recurved, 6–14 cm long, 5–12 mm wide, to 25 mm wide at base of branches, acuminate, glabrous, scurfy with age, 1-nerved per face; lateral nerves few and obscure; glands sometimes 2, lowermost normally 2–6 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences usually racemose; raceme axes mostly 2–4 cm long, glabrous; peduncles usually 6–15 mm long, to 25 mm in fruit, glabrous; heads globular, 8 mm diam. at anthesis, densely 40–60-flowered, pale yellow. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united almost to apex. Pods rounded on opposite sides over alternate seeds, to 25 cm long, 12–17 mm wide, thickly coriaceous to subwoody, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic, 6.5–7.5 mm long, slightly shiny, black; funicle encircling seed in a double fold, thick, red-brown to black; aril clavate.
Endemic in the northern Flinders Ra. from Mt Lyndhurst and Arkaroola N to near Moolawatana, S.A. Grows mainly in shallow calcareous loam, on steep stony hillsides and in gullies amongst outcropping quartzite, in tall shrubland.
A variant from Mt Painter, near Arkaroola, S.A., is unusual in having single, axillary peduncles 1–2.5 cm long (e.g. 9 June 1972, B.Maloney , AD, K, MEL, NSW).
A member of the widespread ‘ Acacia microbotrya group’ characterised by its markedly acuminate phyllodes and thickly textured, large pods. The carpological characters serve to distinguish A. confluens from the widespread A. jennerae (which has similarly acuminate phyllodes) and from the more southerly distributed A. retinodes . J.M.Black, Fl. S. Australia 2nd edn, 2: 411 (1948), treated A. confluens as conspecific with A. retinodes .
Type of accepted name
Mt Lyndhurst, S.A., Oct. 1898, M.Koch 48 ; holo: NSW; iso: K.
Synonymy
Racosperma confluens (Maiden & Blakely) Pedley, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 92: 248 (1986). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
J.H.Maiden & W.F.Blakely, loc. cit .; B.R.Maslin, in J.PJessop (ed.), Fl. Central Australia 120, fig. 159F (1981); D.J.E.Whibley & D.E.Symon, Acacias S. Australia 2nd edn, 175 (1992).
Representative collections
S.A.: near Arkaroola Bore, c. 95 km ENE of Leigh Creek, 14 Dec. 1968, B.Evans s.n. (AD, PERTH); Mt Gee near Arkaroola, R.H.Kuchel 3185 (AD, MO, PERTH).
(BRM)
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.
