Acacia gilesiana F.Muell., Chem. & Druggist Australas . Suppl. 5 (51): 26 (1882)
Giles’ Wattle
Glabrous, spreading shrub 2–3 m high. Branchlets terete, at first slightly ribbed. Phyllodes ascending to erect, straight to shallowly curved, terete, 5–24 cm long, 1.5–1.8 mm diam., coarsely pungent to innocuous, thick, rigid, glaucous, with 8 (rarely more) distant, immersed, yellowish nerves; minute gland towards base, a second gland sometimes near apex. Inflorescences 2–8-headed racemes; raceme axes 25–30 mm long; peduncles 10–20 mm long; heads globular, 5–6 mm diam., 20–37-flowered, golden; bracteoles peltate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods narrowly oblong, slightly constricted between seeds, slightly curved, flat, to 13 cm long, 1–1.5 cm wide, chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic, 6 mm long, exarillate.
Occurs in the Gibson Desert, W.A., and Great Victoria Desert from Neale Junction, W.A., to Maralinga, S.A., with the type locality c. 300 km farther E. Grows mostly in deep red sand in low open woodland and tall shrubland, often with mulga and spinfex.
Related to A. donaldsonii .
Type of accepted name
Near Mt Eba, S.A., 1882, E.Giles ; holo: MEL; iso: K, NSW, PERTH (Fragment ex MEL).
Illustrations
B.R.Maslin, in J.P.Jessop (ed.), Fl. Central Australia , 119, fig. 158H (1981); D.J.E.Whibley & D.E.Symon, Acacias S. Australia 2nd edn, 225 (1992).
Representative collections
W.A.: c. 72 km W of Serpentine Lakes, N.N.Donner 3952 (PERTH); c. 40 km W of Pollock Hills, A.S.George 9060 (PERTH, TLF). S.A.: c. 8 km S of Maralinga, B.Copley 2682 (PERTH); 148 km N of Cook, D.E.Symon 12251 (PERTH).
(RSC)
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.
