Acacia constablei Tindale, Telopea 1: 429; 430, pl. 18 (1980)
Straggling or erect shrub 1.3–3 (–5) m high. Bark smooth, grey, often mottled. Branchlets dark brown, grey-puberulous, with knobbly ridges c. 0.5 mm high. Young foliage-tips sulphur-yellow, tomentose. Leaves coriaceous, fleshy, dark green; petiole above pulvinus 0.2–1 cm long, vertically flattened, with 1 grey-puberulous gland at base of or below lowest pair of pinnae; rachis 1.7–5 (–8.5) cm long, with 1 orbicular, raised, puberulous jugary gland at all or most pairs of pinnae, interjugary glands rare; pinnae 6–14 (–19) pairs, 0.8–3 cm long; pinnules 9–30 pairs, closely spaced, narrowly oblong, 1–2.5 mm long, 0.5–0.8 mm wide, subglabrous or white- or yellow-puberulous, apex broadly rounded. Inflorescences in axillary racemes or sometimes in terminal false-panicles. Heads 30–32-flowered, pale yellow or cream-coloured. Pods 3–7 (–11.5) cm long, 7–9 mm wide, coriaceous, black or dark brown, grey-puberulous, glabrescent.
Restricted to the Narrabarba area, East Boyd and Nadgee State Forests, South Coast, N.S.W. Forming almost impenetrable whipstick scrubs on rocky, knife-edge ridges of rhyolite, granite and aplite, mostly in poor soils, sometimes in rich black loam. Flowers June–Aug.; fruits Nov.
Acacia constablei is allied to A. nanodealbata , but differs in the whipstick-like habit, knobbly ridges on the branchlets, more fleshy pinnules, more puberulous, black or dark brown pods and less pouch-like glands on the rachises, and occasional presence of interjugary glands.
Type of accepted name
SE of Narrabarba, c. W of Disaster Bay, N.S.W., 14 Aug. 1963, E.F.Constable 4325 ; holo: NSW; iso: AD, BRI, CANB, K, L, MEL, PERTH, US.
Illustrations
M.D.Tindale, loc. cit .; T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 186, fig. 213; pl. 213 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: East Boyd State Forest, D.E.Albrecht 2669 (MEL, NSW); c. 3 miles [4.8 km] SE of Narrabarba, E.F.Constable 5444 (A, AD, BRI, CANB, NSW, PERTH, UC, Z); Narrabarba Hill, 15 miles [24 km] N of Victorian border, 11 Oct. 1954, E.F.Constable s.n. (CANB, K, MEL, NSW, US).
(MDT & PGK)
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.
