Acacia fulva Tindale, Contr. New South Wales Natl Herb . 4: 19 (1966)
Velvet Wattle
Shrub or tree 1.5–10 (–15) m high. Bark smooth and greyish green on young trees, later rough and corrugated. Branchlets with the surface and inconspicuous ridges bearing velvety, silvery grey or castaneous hairs 0.8–1 mm long. Young foliage-tips castaneous, velvety. Leaves silvery greyish; petiole above pulvinus inconspicuous or to 0.6 cm long, terete, with an orbicular gland near basal pinnae; rachis 2–8 cm long, mostly bearing 1–3 minute interjugary glands between pairs of pinnae as well as jugary glands often present at some pairs of pinnae; pinnae 4–12 pairs, 3–7.5 cm long; pinnules 11–28 pairs, narrowly lanceolate to ovate or narrowly lanceolate-oblong, 3–10 mm long, 1–2 (–2.5) mm wide, lower surface and margins lanate with long, weak, silvery hairs, upper surface sparsely lanate, apex sharply acute to acuminate. Inflorescences in axillary racemes, or terminal or axillary false-panicles. Heads 24–48-flowered, bright yellow. Pods 2–12 cm long, 4–6.5 mm wide, thickly coriaceous, dark brown, velvety with soft, castaneous and silvery hairs 1–1.2 mm long. 2 n = 26, B.G.Briggs, on A.N.Rodd & B.G.Briggs (NSW77534).
Occurs in eastern N.S.W. at Gloucester Buckets, Apple Tree Flat (Hunter Valley), Hayes Ck (near Bulga), Mt Wareng and Mt Yengo (near Howes Valley). Grows on basalt, shale and sandstone, often with Eucalyptus moluccana and E. tereticornis in dry sclerophyll forest, on ridges and slopes and in gullies. Flowers Nov.–June.
Maiden and Blakely included this species in their description of the very closely allied Acacia mollifolia , citing NSW8140 and NSW8141 from Gloucester and Gloucester Buckets, respectively. Acacia mollifolia has been recorded from the Central Western Slopes and one locality in the Central Tablelands, N.S.W.
In A. mollifolia the pinnules are more cultrate or linear with a rounded or truncate instead of very acute apex, also the branchlets are shortly tomentose and the pods often more constricted between the seeds. Interjugary glands occur on the rachises between the pairs of pinnae in A. fulva but are absent in A. mollifolia . Both species are characterised by very similar bracteoles, but the flowers are different. The petals and the lobes of the calyx in A. fulva have a number of long, fine, weak, white hairs on their outer surfaces. The ovary in A. mollifolia is mid-brown and glabrous instead of dark brown with a tuft of long, white hairs as in A. fulva .
Type of accepted name
Northern slope of Mt Wareng, Howes Valley, N.S.W., Apr. 1963, E.F.Constable 4220 ; holo: NSW; iso: A, K.
Illustrations
D.A.Morrison & S.J.Davies, in G.J.Harden (ed.), Fl. New South Wales 2: 388 (1991); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 193, fig. 221; pl. 221 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: Gloucester Buckets, R.G.Coveny 4609 (AD, B, BRI, CANB, K, L, MO, NSW, PERTH, RSA, TNS, UC, US, W) and G.D’Aubert 613 & P.D.Hind (NSW); Mt Wareng, E.F.Constable 4785 (BRI, L, NSW, NY, UC, US); NE slope of Mt Yengo, A.N.Rodd & B.G.Briggs (CANB, NSW77534); 1 mile [1.6 km] SSE of Howes Valley, 14 Nov. 1965, M.D.Tindale s.n. (MO, NSW, PERTH).
(MDT & PGK)
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.
