Acacia hakeoides A.Cunn. ex Benth., London J. Bot . 1: 354 (1842)
Hakea-leaved Wattle , Western Black Wattle , Hakea Wattle, and more
Bushy shrub or tree to c. 4 m high. Branchlets terete, glabrous. Phyllodes narrowly oblanceolate, sometimes linear, usually 4.5–12 cm long, 3–12 mm wide, narrowed at base, obtuse, green, glabrous, 1-nerved per face; lateral nerves longitudinally anastomosing; gland normally 1–2.5 cm above pulvinus. Inflorescences 6–12-headed racemes; raceme axes mostly 1–5 cm long, glabrous, drying dark brown to blackish; peduncles 2–5 mm long, stout, glabrous or subglabrous, drying dark brown to blackish; heads globular, usually 20–27-flowered, bright golden; bracteoles evident in buds, with laminae circular, dark brown to black and white-fimbriolate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 5/6-united. Pods usually moniliform, to 12 cm long, 4–6 mm wide, thinly coriaceous to crustaceous, very dark brown to black, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic, 5–7 mm long, dull, black; aril clavate.
Scattered in southern Australia from Clyde Hill, NE of Esperance, W.A., through southern S.A., inland Vic., and on the Great Divide, its inland slopes and adjacent plains in N.S.W., N to the Tara area, Qld.; an isolated occurrence near Broken Hill, N.S.W. Grows in a variety of soils but commonly in sand or loam, in open scrub or Eucalyptus woodland; in N.S.W. it sometimes occurs on rocky ranges.
Frequently a multistemmed shrub or small tree which produces suckers if its roots are disturbed ( fide D.J.E.Whibley & D.E.Symon, Acacias S. Australia 2nd edn, 150, 1992) and may form dense thickets.
The phyllodes are somewhat variable in shape and size, although most commonly they are narrowly oblanceolate, 4.5–12 cm long, 5–12 mm wide, and rather abruptly narrowed to a rounded, obtuse apex. Specimens with linear phyllodes 3–4 mm wide occur scattered throughout the range (e.g. the Dubbo area, N.S.W.); a long phyllode variant from near Bendigo is noted below. The gland is normally on the lower 1/3 of the phyllode 1–2.5 cm above the pulvinus; however, sometimes (especially plants from W.A.) it occurs near the middle of the phyllode c. 4.5 cm above the pulvinus. The upper margin of the phyllode is sometimes kinked at the gland.
A variant from near Eaglehawk, in the Bendigo ‘Whipstick’ forest, Vic., which was included under A. hakeoides by A.B.Court, in J.H.Willis, Handb. Pl. Victoria 2: 231 (1973), is recognised by its phyllodes 11–15 cm long and 3–5 mm wide, heads c. 35-flowered and pods less constricted between the seeds than normal (e.g. Moon Mines, beyond Eaglehawk, Aug. 1921, D.J.Paton , MEL). More or less straight-edged pods sometimes also occur in W.A. Putative natural hybrids between A. pycnantha and A. williamsonii from the Bendigo ‘Whipstick’ superficially resemble A. hakeoides .
Closely related to A. williamsonii . Its flowers and bracteoles are similar to those of A. obtusata and A. hamiltoniana . Similar to A. difformis .
Type of accepted name
Near both Lachlan and Macquarie rivers, N.S.W., A.Cunningham s.n .; syn: K, fide L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 265 (1980); Dumaresque R., N.S.W., A.Cunningham 92 ; syn: K; barren forests on the N of Liverpool Plains, N.S.W., July 1827, A.Cunningham ; syn: K, fide L.Pedley, loc. cit. ; Lachlan R., N.S.W., Aug. 1917, A.Cunningham 427 ; ?syn: K, specimen ex LINN, not annotated by Bentham.
Synonymy
Racosperma hakeoides (A.Cunn. ex Benth.) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 349 (1987). as for accepted name.
? Acacia falciformis var. propinqua Benth., London J. Bot . 1: 352 (1842). Type: banks of the Lachlan R., N.S.W., Aug., [ C.Fraser ]; ?syn: K, specimen not annotated var. propinqua by Bentham; between the Lachlan & Macquarie rivers, N.S.W., Aug. 1817, A.Cunningham 429 ; ?syn: K, specimen annotated ‘A. penninervis var.?’ by Bentham.
Illustrations
E.R.Rotherham et al. , Fl. & Pl. New South Wales & S Queensland 149 (1975); L.F.Costermans, Native Trees & Shrubs SE Australia 315 (1981); G.M.Cunningham et al. , Pl. W New South Wales 362 (1981); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 140, fig. 150, pl. 150 (1992); D.J.E.Whibley & D.E.Symon, Acacias S. Australia 2nd edn, 151 (1992).
Representative collections
W.A.: Parmango Rd, adjacent to Clyde Hill, B.R.Maslin 5826 (MEXU, PERTH). S.A.: c. 10 km NE of Arno Bay, N.N.Donner 2160 (AD, MEL). Qld: Condamine- Kogan road, c. 2 km W of Wieambilla Ck, V.Hando 17 (PERTH). N.S.W.: Barellan Rd, 2.1 km NE of Newell Hwy near Naranderra, R.Coveny 12016 & P.Hind (AD n.v ., B n.v ., CANB n.v ., K n.v ., NSW, PERTH, US n.v ., Z n.v .). Vic.: Big Desert, A.C.Beauglehole 38333 (MEL).
(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.
