Acacia hockingsii Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 255 (1980)
Rounded, glabrous, somewhat viscid shrub to c. 3 m high; young shoots reddish. Phyllodes ascending to erect, sometimes patent, narrowly linear, shallowly curved to shallowly sigmoid, 6–10 cm long, usually 2–3 mm wide, l:w = 30- 40, narrowed towards the base, obtuse to acute, with slightly thickened mucro, green, with somewhat tuberculate margins; midrib usually evident; lateral nerves obscure and subparallel to midrib; gland linear, usually 0.5–1.5 mm long, 1.5–4 mm above pulvinus, a smaller, circular gland at base of mucro. Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; peduncles 3–5 mm long, the base ebracteate; heads globular, c. 30-flowered, deep golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals c. 2.3-united. Pods narrowly oblong to linear, convex over seeds, to 8 cm long, 5–7 mm wide, firmly chartaceous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic to ovate, 2.5–3.5 mm long; funicle folded below the oblique aril.
Restricted to the Isla Gorge area, Qld. Grows in shallow soil over sandstone in eucalypt woodland.
A variant having unusually narrow phyllodes (c. 1 mm wide) with an indistinct midrib and a minute, circular basal gland also occurs at the Isla Gorge Lookout (e.g. M.E.Ballingall 2135 , PERTH).
A member of the ‘ A. johnsonii group’ and distinguished from its closest relatives, A. eremophiloides , A. gnidium and A. ixodes by its very long phyllodes. Acacia islana , another member of the ‘ A. johnsonii group’ restricted to Isla Gorge, is recognised by its short, terete to subterete phyllodes. Resembling A. sabulosa which is distinguished by its longer peduncles, heads with more flowers and broader pods enclosing transverse seeds.
Type of accepted name
Isla Gorge, c. 20 miles [32 km] S of Theodore, Qld, Sept. 1963, F.D.Hockings s.n .; holo: BRI.
Synonymy
Racosperma hockingsii (Pedley) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 349 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustration
L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 1: 231, fig. 7I (1978), single phyllode.
Representative collections
Qld: Isla Gorge, L.Pedley 2792 (BRI, NSW); Isla Gorge Lookout, K.A.Williams 77158 (BRI).
(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.
