Acacia maxwellii Maiden & Blakely (as ‘maxwelli’), J. Roy. Soc. W. Australia 13: 7; pl. 6, figs 8–13 (1928)
Prostrate shrub, sometimes domed, to 0.4 m high. Branchlets puberulous with patent to appressed hairs. Stipules subpersistent, 1–2 mm long. Phyllodes erect, linear, rarely terete, straight to shallowly curved, 1.5–6 cm long, 1–3 mm wide, obtuse and excentrically mucronulate, occasionally acute, thick, rugose when dry, green, glabrous; midrib impressed when dry; gland 0.5–3.5 mm above pulvinus, sometimes absent. Inflorescences mostly 1–3-headed racemes; raceme axes 0.5–3 mm long, commonly growing out during anthesis; peduncles 1–2 cm long, glabrous to sparsely appressed-puberulous; heads globular, 5 mm diam., 11–17-flowered, pale yellow to cream. Flowers 5-merous, glabrous; sepals c. 3/4-united, lobes broadly triangular. Pods linear, not constricted between seeds, to 4 cm long, 4–5 mm wide, crustaceous, dark brown, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, broadly oblong-elliptic to circular, turgid, c. 3 mm long, dull, light brown; aril thick.
Extends from near the Stirling Ra. E to Israelite Bay, south-western W.A. Grows in sand, sandy loam, gravelly loam and clay, in shrub mallee and mallee heath, often along watercourses.
It is probable that the Baxter syntype of A. ramosissima is A. cupularis ; apart from this specimen it is not known what others G.Bentham may have confounded with this name, see Bentham’s comment in Fl. Austral . 2: 360 (1864).
A variant with terete phyllodes, 15–30 mm long, is known from a single specimen collected from near Mt Heywood ( K.Newbey 7952 , PERTH: in very young fruit); the typical form of the species occurs nearby.
The type locality has not been located on modern maps.
Resembles superficially A. cupularis which usually has an erect habit, glabrous branchlets, phyllodes with a central mucro, much shorter peduncles and generally more flowers per head.
Also similar in general appearance to A. pachyphylla .
Type of accepted name
Fitzgerald Ra., W.A., G.Maxwell ; holo: NSW.
Synonymy
Acacia ramosissima Benth., London J. Bot. 1: 356 (1842), non H.Mart. ex Colla (1834). Type: south-western W.A., J.Drummond ?3 or 4: 79 (in fruit); lecto: K, fide G.Bentham, Fl. Austral . 2: 360 (1864); King George Sound, W.A., W.Baxter (as ‘Bagster’); paralecto: n.v.
Illustration
J.H.Maiden & W.F.Blakely, loc. cit .
Representative collections
W.A.: 1.6 km S of Jerramungup towards Albany, B.R.Maslin 2587 (PERTH); 12 km N of Israelite Bay on track to Balladonia, E.C.Nelson ANU16509 (PERTH); c. 3 km NE of Howick Hill, A.E.Orchard 1124 (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.
