Botanical name

Acacia gregorii F. Muell., Fragm. 3: 47 (1862)

Common name

Gregory's Wattle

Description

Dense, prostrate or low-spreading shrubs normally 0.2-0.5 m high and up to 2 m across. Branchlets hairy. Stipules acuminate, triangular to ovate, 1.5-3.5 mm long and 1-2 mm wide. Phyllodes ovate, elliptic, oblong-elliptic or obovate, (6-) 10-20 mm long, (4-) 6-11 mm wide, undulate, hairy, green; with a single longitudinal nerve on each face; narrowed at apex to a discrete, sometimes spiny point. Inflorescences simple or rudimentary 1-headed racemes; peduncles 5-20 mm long, spreading-hairy, sometimes with bract near or above middle; heads globular or obloid, 10-12 mm in diameter when fresh, 35-60-flowered, golden; bracteoles acuminate, exserted beyond the buds before the flowers open. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods crowded on the receptacle, oblong, 5-18 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, usually 1-seeded or 2seeded and hairy, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous. Seeds longitudinal to oblique in the pods, ovoid, 3 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, obliquely truncate adjacent to aril, slightly shiny, dark brown.

Characteristic features

Prostrate or low-spreading shrubs. Branchlets hairy. Stipules well-developed. Phyllodes short and broad (mostly 10-20 x 6-11 mm), undulate, hairy, 1-nerved, apical point sometimes spiny. Inflorescences simple or rudimentary 1-headed racemes; peduncles often long (5-20 mm), hairy; heads globular or obloid, rather large, golden; bracteoles acuminate, exserted in buds. Pods short (5-18 mm), crowded on the receptacle, usually few-seeded and hairy.

Distribution and ecology

Acacia gregorii has a scattered distribution in northwest Western Australia, mainly in coastal areas from Quobba north to near Wickham. In the Pilbara it is found between Dampier and Wickham, it also occurs on Barrow Island and the Montebello Islands off the Pilbara coast; an outlier is found in the Kennedy Range, south of the Pilbara. Acacia gregorii grows in sand or limestone, on plains and rocky hills, with spinifex or in heath.

Flowering and fruiting period

Flowers from June to August. Pods with mature seeds have been collected in October.

Variation

A variant from near Quobba is characterized in having glabrous, 1-3-seeded pods.

Affinities

Acacia gregorii has no close relatives in the Pilbara.

Notes

Gregory's wattle has considerable horticultural potential as an attractive groundcover in coastal areas, particularity on sandy soils.

Conservation status

Not considered rare or endangered.

Origin of name

The botanical name commemorates F.T. Gregory whose expedition in 1861 traversed the Pilbara. The botanical collectors on this expedition were Pemberton Walcott and Maitland Brown (see A. maitlandii).