Acacia conspersa F.Muell., J. Linn. Soc., Bot . 3: 140 (1859)
Shrub or tree to 7.5 m high. Bark fissured longitudinally or rough and stringy, lenticellate, brown or grey. Branchlets terete, virgate, densely villous. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic or linear, straight or subfalcate, 3.5–8.5 cm long, 4–12 mm wide, coriaceous, often scurfy, sparsely villous on margins, midnerve and phyllode base when mature, with prominent midnerve and 1 scarcely prominent nerve either side, the minor nerves 9–12 per mm, fine, with rare anastomoses; gland 1, c. 3–18 mm above pulvinus. Spikes 3–4.5 cm long, bright yellow. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 0.5–0.8 mm long, deeply dissected, bearing intertwined hairs; corolla 0.9–1.1 mm long, dissected to 1/2, glabrous; ovary densely silvery-pubescent. Pods linear, 4–13 cm long, 3–5 mm wide, coriaceous, longitudinally striate, scurfy, puberulous, later glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, 4.6–5.7 mm long, dark brown.
Occurs in tropical N.T., N of 16S. Grows in colonies, in stony sandy soils or alluvium, in savannah grassland, shrubland, eucalypt woodland or tall wet forest, along creeks, on hills or in gullies on sandstone. Flowers Apr.–Oct.
Acacia conspersa is allied to A. multistipulosa and A. pubirhachis , with differences between these species discussed by M.D.Tindale et al ., Austral. Syst. Bot. 9: 860 (1996). Related also to A. rigescens .
Type of accepted name
Gulf of Carpentaria, [probably N.T.], 22–24 July 1856, F.Mueller 30 ; holo: MEL.
Illustrations
K.Brennan, Wildfl. Kakadu 16, pl. 12 (1986); J.Brock, Top End Native Pl. 58 (1988); C.R.Dunlop, G.J.Leach & I.D.Cowie, Fl. Darwin Region 2: 7, fig. 2 (1995).
Representative collections
N.T.: N of Oenpelli, Mt Borriadale Rd, I.Cowie 3021 & R.Booth (DNA, NSW, PERTH); E side of Swift Ck, 0.7 km from creek crossing, 4.1 km E along track from Oenpelli road turnoff, A.S.Murray & C.F.Puttock (NSW, UNSW9041); 3 miles [4.8 km] S of Adelaide River, I.V.Newman 613 (NSW); SE base of Jabiluka Hill, Oenpelli Rd, 15 May 1979, C.F.Puttock & J.T.Waterhouse (DNA, NSW, UNSW).
(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.
