Acacia linearifolia Maiden & Blakely, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 60: 177 (1927)
Stringybark Wattle , Narrow-leaved Wattle
Shrub or tree to c. 10 m high; juvenile bipinnate foliage may persist on lower branches. Branchlets dark reddish, glabrous, sometimes scurfy. Phyllodes narrowly linear, 6–12 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, recurved-mucronate to uncinate, thin, smooth, green to greyish green, glabrous, 1-nerved; lateral nerves absent or obscure; glands pustular, occasionally 2, lowermost 1–5 cm above pulvinus. Inflorescences racemose; raceme axes normally 2.5–6 cm long, glabrous; heads globular, rather densely 20–26-flowered, golden; peduncles 2–4 mm long, glabrous. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods raised on opposite sides over alternate seeds, normally shallowly constricted between seeds, to c. 12 cm long, 5–7.5 mm wide, firmly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous, reddish brown, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic, 5–6 mm long, shiny, black; funicle short; aril clavate.
Occurs principally from Scone- Denman W to Gulgong- Dunedoo, with southern outliers at Binalong, Wagga Wagga and The Rock (c. 300- 400 km SSW of Gulgong), N.S.W. Grows commonly in colluvial sand on lower slopes of sandstone hills.
The complex nomenclatural history of A. linearifolia is discussed by B.R.Maslin, Telopea 6: 43–49 (1994). The species has often been confounded with the more northerly distributed A. adunca which is distinguished especially by its commonly narrower phyllodes, less prominent glands, fewer and less densely congested flowers in the heads and broader pods which are not or scarcely constricted between the seeds. Phyllodes may resemble those of A. macnuttiana and A. forsythii , but neither of these species have the prominent foliar glands of A. linearifolia . Appears to be very closely related to A. pustula (Qld) which is distinguished primarily by its glands which tend to be slightly larger (1–1.5 mm long), commonly connected to the midrib by a fine, oblique nerve and have a large, central pore; in A. linearifolia the glands are 0.5–0.7 (- 1) mm long, infrequently connected to midrib by a nerve and normally have a small, acentral pore.
Type of accepted name
Gungal, Mt Dangar, Dec. 1908, J.L.Boorman ; lecto: NSW, fide B.R.Maslin, Telopea 6: 47 (1994).
Synonymy
Acacia murrumboensis Maiden & Blakely, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 60: 180; pl. 14, figs 6–13 (1927). Type: Murrumbo, Goulburn R., N.S.W., Sept. 1895, R.T.Baker s.n. ; holo: NSW.
[ Acacia adunca auct. non A.Cunn. ex Don: e.g. J.H.Maiden, Forest Fl. New South Wales 5: 116 (1912), as to Mt Dangar, J.L.Boorman (NSW168897, paralectotype of A. accola )]
Illustrations
J.H.Maiden & W.F.Blakely, loc. cit. , as A. murrumboensis ; J.H.Maiden, Forest Fl. New South Wales 5: pl. 173H & J (1912); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 146, fig. 158, pl. 158 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: Binalong, Oct. 1956, H.Boyd s.n . (NSW); 28.4 km c. W from Muswellbrook on the road to Sandy Hollow, R.Coveny 2412 (BRI, NSW, PERTH); The Rock, 14 Mar. 1929, B.Dwyer s.n . (NSW); 59 km from Mudgee towards Cassilis, M.E.Phillips 312 (CANB, L n.v .).
(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.
