Acacia gregorii F.Muell., Fragm . 3: 47 (1862)
Gregory’s Wattle
Dense, prostrate or low-spreading shrub to 0.5–1 m high and to 2 m across. Branchlets pubescent to puberulous. Stipules triangular to ovate, 1.5–3.5 mm long, 1–2 mm wide, acuminate, scarious, striate. Phyllodes ovate, elliptic, oblong-elliptic or obovate, 1–2 cm long, 5–10 mm wide, undulate, with innocuous to pungent mucro, pubescent to puberulous, 1-nerved per face; lateral nerves obscure. Inflorescences simple or rudimentary 1-headed racemes with axes <0.5 mm long with new shoots; peduncles 5–20 mm long, pubescent to puberulous, sometimes with bract near or above middle; heads globular or obloid, 7–8 mm diam., 35–60-flowered, golden; bracteoles acuminate, exserted in young buds. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united; petals 1-nerved. Pods crowded on receptacle, oblong, to 1.8 cm long, 4–5 mm wide, usually 1- or 2-seeded and pilose to hirsute, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous. Seeds longitudinal to oblique, ovate, obliquely truncate adjacent to aril, 3 mm long, slightly shiny, dark brown.
Occurs from Quobba N to near Wickham,including Barrow and Montebello Is., with an outlier in the Kennedy Ra., central western W.A. Grows in coastal sand or limestone, on plains and rocky hills, with spinifex or in heath.
A variant from near Quobba ( A.S.George 10153 ) differs in having glabrous, 1–3-seeded pods. Few-seeded pods occur also in A. shuttleworthii .
None of the K, MEL or NSW syntypes give Walcott as collector but the former is annotated by F.Mueller as ‘Gregory’s Expedition’. As Walcott was a botanical collector (with Maitland Brown) on F.A.Gregory’s expedition to northwest W.A. in 1861 it is likely that he collected this specimen. A second sheet of A. gregorii at MEL is erroneously labelled ‘Acacia . Prickly and very Rigid, not in fruit–Height 6 to 10 ft. Alluvial Valley–Hearson Island’. This label probably refers to A. pyrifolia and probably accounts for the Hearson Island citation in the protologue.
Superficially similar to the more southerly distributed A. crispula and A. shuttleworthii both of which have paler yellow, fewer-flowered heads. Seemingly with some affinities to A. crassistipula .
Type of accepted name
Nickol Bay, W.A., P.Walcott ; syn: K, MEL, NSW. See note below.
Illustration
R.Erickson et al. , Fl. & Pl. W. Australia 166 (1973).
Representative collections
W.A.: near Mia Mia Stn, North West Coastal Hwy, A.M.Ashby 5173 (BRI, MEL, NSW, PERTH); near old Merlinleigh HS, Kennedy Ra., J.S.Beard 4374 (PERTH); 10 km N of Quobba Stn HS, A.S.George 10153 (PERTH, TLF); c. 9 km N of Exmouth on road to Yardie Ck, B.R.Maslin 4748 (CANB, MEL, 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.
