Acacia delibrata A.Cunn. ex Benth., London J. Bot . 1: 374 (1842)
Resinous shrub or tree to 9 m high; trunk to 4.5 m high. Bark ‘Minni Ritchi’, red-brown. Branchlets angular to flattened near apices, very slender, dark red-brown; ridges light to dark red-brown, sericeous, the interstices sericeous or glabrous, lenticellate. Phyllodes very narrowly elliptic to linear, flat, falcate, 6–14.5 cm long, 1.5–8 mm wide, thin, with weak appressed hairs on lamina or only on veins, margins and base (young phyllodes pale yellow- to white-sericeous), with conspicuous midvein and 1–3 semiprominent veins on each side, the minor veins 3 or 4 per mm, occasionally anastomosing; gland 1, basal, to 1 mm above pulvinus. Spikes 1.5–3 cm long, delicate, pale yellow or cream-coloured. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 0.4–0.6 mm long, cut for 1/3–2/3, the upper tube pubescent, with ciliolate margins; corolla c. 1–1.3 mm long, cut for 1/2, papillose; ovary pubescent. Pods linear, submoniliform, often twisted, subtetragonous, 8–14 cm long, crustaceous, obscurely reticulate, glabrous; margins to 5.5 mm thick. Seeds longitudinal, rotund, 4–5 mm long, light brown to blackish; pleurogram with broad, yellowish halo; areole closed, round or elliptic, depressed, light brown to blackish.
Occurs in tropical W.A., on the offshore islands, and mainland ranging from 15S to 17S and 123E to 127E, in stony soil over quartzite or sandstone, on plateaux, on the coast or along watercourses, in eucalypt woodland or in stands. Flowers Apr.–June & Oct.
The illustrations of " A. delibrata " given in F.Mueller, Iconogr. Austral. Acacia dec. 11: [pl. 1] (1888) are not of this species. Although L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 159 (1978) suggested that they represent A. torulosa it appears that the plate comprises elements of two taxa. The flowering specimen illustrated is possibly A. torulosa and the fruiting specimen is possibly A. oncinocarpa , however, further study is needed to verify these determinations. See A. tenuispica for note on relationships.
Type of accepted name
Port Warrender, NW coast, W.A., Oct. 1819, A.Cunningham 486 ; holo: K; iso: NSW.
Illustrations
J.H.Maiden, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 51: pl. 1 (1917); J.R.Wheeler, in J.R.Wheeler (ed.) et al ., Fl. Kimberley Region 321, fig. 93A (1992).
Representative collections
W.A.: Sunday Is., W Kimberleys, W.V.Fitzgerald (MEL, NSW); 22 km SW of Mount Barnett Stn, E Phillips Ra., G.P.Guymer 572 (NE, NSW); Galvans Gorge, Phillips Ra., J.H.Willis & A.C.Beauglehole (MEL, NSW107765); Boongaree Is., Prince Frederick Harbour, P.G.Wilson 11338 (MEL, PERTH).
(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.
