Acacia duriuscula W.Fitzg., J. Western Australia Nat. Hist. Soc . 1: 15 (1904)
Resinous shrub or tree 0.7–3 m tall. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes ascending to erect, linear to linear-elliptic, straight to shallowly incurved, 1.5–9.5 cm long, 1–4 mm wide, obtuse to acute, coriaceous, glabrous, with numerous, closely parallel nerves, the midrib sometimes slightly more evident than the rest. Inflorescences simple, mostly 2 per axil; peduncles 2–5 mm long, to 8 mm in fruit, glabrous or puberulous; heads globular, 3.5–4 mm diam., 19–26-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 3/4-united. Pods linear, slightly raised over seeds, slightly curved, to 6 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic, 3–3.5 mm long, glossy, brown-black, mottled; aril apical.
Scattered from near Mullewa and Paynes Find SE to Tammin and Cardunia Rocks, E of Coolgardie and near Bromus, S of Norseman, W.A. Grows in white, yellow, red, light brown sand, granitic loamy sand and gravelly sand on plains of low relief in scrub dominated by species of various eucalypts, Acacia or Allocasuarina acutivalvis .
Closely allied to A. stowardii and A. kempeana which, with A. duriuscula , deserve careful study to resolve their interrelationships; A. duriuscula may, perhaps, be better treated as an infraspecific taxon within this group. Both relatives are widespread Arid Zone taxa with the flowers arranged in oblongoid heads or cylindrical spikes (although A. stowardii occasionally has widely elliptic ones) and broader pods. See B.R.Maslin & R.S.Cowan, Nuytsia 9: 390 (1994) for discussion of types. Perhaps also related to A. crenulata .
Type of accepted name
Coolgardie district, W.A., E.Kelso ; syn: NSW; isosyn: CANB (ex E, dated ‘1902’), NSW, PERTH 00749974 & 00749982.
Representative collections
W.A.: 25 km N of Mullewa, T.J.Hawkeswood 37 (PERTH); 3.3 km SW along Queen Victoria Rocks Rd from Coolgardie, M.McDonald MM-1337 (NSW, PERTH); 7.5 km N of Tammin, B.R.Maslin 4422 (BRI, PERTH); Cardunia Rocks, K.Newbey 8483 (PERTH).
(RSC & 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.
