Acacia flagelliformis Court, Nuytsia 2: 170; 171, fig. 2 & 176, fig. 4 (1978)
Erect or sometimes sprawling, often multistemmed, glabrous, rush-like subshrub normally to c. 0.6 m high. Stems slender, sparingly divided. Phyllodes resembling branchlets/stems, distant, ascending to erect, narrowly linear, dimorphic (on lower stems: flat, to 11 cm long, 2–5 mm wide; on upper stems: quadrangular to flat, 1.5–7 cm long, 0.6–1 mm wide, often subuncinate); midrib prominent; gland normally absent. Inflorescences 4–9-headed racemes, enclosed when young by conspicuous, imbricate, brown bracts; raceme axes mostly 4–20 mm long, slender; peduncles mostly 5–10 mm long, slender; heads globular, 6–9-flowered, light golden; bracteoles absent. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united into a cupular calyx, to 1/4 length of corolla; petals nerveless. Pods narrowly oblong, to 5 cm long, 5–6 mm wide, crustaceous; margins thick. Seeds longitudinal, c. 3.5 mm long, slightly shiny, brown; aril clavate.
Occurs from Bunbury S to near Chapman Hill (20 km S of Busselton), also near Yarloop, c. 50 km NE of Bunbury, south-western W.A. Grows in sand in swampy areas in closed scrub or closed heath, also along creeks in similar situations within Jarrah ( Eucalyptus marginata )- Marri ( Corymbia calophylla ) forest.
Resembling A. restiacea in habit and by having the young racemes enclosed by conspicuous bracts, but differs with having more phyllodes, heads with less flowers and non-moniliform pods. Probably related to A. squamata which also has conspicuous inflorescence bracts. Sometimes confounded with A. insolita subsp. efoliolata .
Type of accepted name
between Bunbury and Busselton, 0.6 km S of Bussell Hwy on Ruabon Rd, W.A., 3 Sept. 1972, B.R.Maslin 2811 ; holo: PERTH; iso: CANB, K.
Illustrations
A.B.Court, loc. cit .
Representative collections
W.A.: c. 3 km W of Yarloop, R.J.Cranfield 116 (CANB, PERTH); 1.6 km E of Nannup- Busselton road towards Tutunup, B.R.Maslin 2817 (AD, BH, BRI, CANB, E, K, L, NSW, PERTH, SYD); 11 km SE of Chapman Hill, G.S.McCutcheon 579 (PERTH).
(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.
