Acacia flocktoniae Maiden, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 49: 476 (1916)
Sparingly branched, weak shrub 2–4 m high. Branchlets somewhat pendulous, angled at extremities, red-brown, glabrous. Phyllodes rather crowded, on raised stem-projections, ascending to erect, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 5–9 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, normally gradually narrowed to an acute or acuminate apex, thin, glabrous, with fine midrib, obscurely penninerved; gland not prominent, 0–6 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences racemose, with raceme axes 2–6 cm long, slender, glabrous; peduncles 3–5 mm long, to 8 mm long in fruit, glabrous; heads globular, densely 20–30-flowered, creamy white or bright yellow. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united almost to apex. Pods broadly linear, to 13 cm long, 6–7 mm wide, firmly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong, 4.5–5.5 mm long, slightly shiny, black; funicle encircling seed in a double fold, red-black; aril clavate.
Occurs in the Blue Mtns at Mt Victoria and Megalong Valley, at Byrnes’ Gap near Yerranderie and also the Nepean R. (type of A. lunata var. crassiuscula ), N.S.W. Grows on sandstone in dry sclerophyll forest.
L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 286 (1980), regarded A. lunata var. crassiuscula as conspecific with A. hamiltoniana , see B.R.Maslin, Telopea 6: 43- 49 (1994), for discussion.
A member of the ‘ Acacia microbotrya group’ with phyllode shape similar to those of A. retinodes var. uncifolia which occurs in southern coastal areas of Vic., Tas. and S.A. and is a dense bushy shrub or tree 5–10 m high with uncinate or subuncinate phyllodes 3–6.5 cm long and 3–10 mm wide. Acacia flocktoniae is closely related to A. forsythii and apart from being geographically disjunct the two appear to differ most significantly in their habit, flower-head colour and phyllode apices. There are also slight, but overlapping, differences in the length of their racemes and peduncles and the distance of the gland above the pulvinus.
Type of accepted name
Byrne’s Gap, Yerranderie, N.S.W., 7 June 1909; R.H.Cambage 2188 & 2189 ; syn: NSW; Byrne’s Gap, Yerranderie, N.S.W., 2 Dec. 1911, R.H.Cambage 3126 ; syn: CANB, K, NSW; Yerranderie, N.S.W., 27 July 1915, J.L.Boorman ; syn: K, NSW.
Synonymy
Acacia lunata var. crassiuscula Maiden & Betche ex Maiden, Wattles & Wattle-barks 3rd edn, 60, 68, 82 (1906). Type: banks of Nepean R., N.S.W., R.Brown ; holo: NSW166373 and 167353; iso: BM n.v ., K n.v ., fide L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 286 (1980).
[ Acacia adunca auct. non A.Cunn. ex G.Don: J.H.Maiden, Forest Fl. New South Wales 5: 117 (1912), as to Byrnes’ Gap, Yerranderie, R.H.Cambage ]
Illustrations
T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 149, fig. 162, pl. 162 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: Byrnes’ Gap, 3.2 km NNW of Yerranderie, E.F.Constable 5648 (NSW, PERTH); Megalong Valley, 7 Nov. 1961, O.D.Evans s.n. (NSW).
(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.
