Acacia merinthophora E.Pritz., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 35: 307, fig. 35E- F (1904)
Openly branching shrub or small tree to 4 m high. Branchlets pendulous, flexuose, ribbed, sericeous between ribs. Phyllodes sessile, strongly incurved, quadrangular in section, 7- 25 cm long, 1 mm wide, attenuate apically, yellow-green, glabrous, with 4 nerves, one at each angle separated on each side by fine, darker furrow; gland basal, swollen. Inflorescences simple, 1- 3 per axil; heads subsessile, obloid to short-cylindrical, 6- 10 mm long, 5- 10 mm diam., subdense, golden. Flowers 4-merous; sepals united. Pods linear, constricted between seeds, straight, to 13 cm long, 2- 2.5 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, antrorsely strigulose; margins broad, yellow. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic, 3- 4 mm long, shiny, mottled brown and cream with a dark brown peripheral line; aril terminal, creamy yellow.
Occurs from Cadoux S to Bruce Rock with disjunct occurrences at Perenjori and North Ironcap (75 km E of Hyden), southern W.A. Grows mostly in sand in tall shrubland.
Specimens of A. merinthophora from near the type locality bear more robust phyllodes.
Closely related to both A. tratmaniana and A. filifolia , both of which have erect, non-flexuose (sometimes slightly flexuose in A. filifolia ) branchlets and supra-basal glands; in addition A. tratmaniana has globular flower-heads. Also similar in habit to A. anfractuosa and A. sciophanes (both in sect. Plurinerves ); has been confused with A. arcuatilis .
Type of accepted name
Tammin, W.A., 21 May 1901, Diels 2858 ; syn: PERTH (Fragment ex B); District Avon, W.A., 1901, E.Pritzel 316 ; syn: B, K, M, MO, NSW, P, PERTH (attributed to Diels and Pritzel and without number), Z.
Synonymy
Acacia hynesiana W.Fitzg., J. Bot . 50: 20 (l912). Type: Kellerberrin, W.A., Nov. 1907, W.V.Fitzgerald s.n. ; holo: BM; iso: MEL, NSW, PERTH; see B.R.Maslin & R.S.Cowan, Nuytsia 9: 395 (1994), for discussion of types.
Illustrations
E.Pritzel, loc. cit .; M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 2: 227 (1988).
Representative collections
W.A.: 16.9 km S of Cunderdin towards Quairading, B.R.Maslin 1709 (AD, MEL, NSW, PERTH); 14.5 km S of Perenjori towards Wubin, B.R.Maslin 3364 (B, BRI, CANB, NT, NY, PERTH); 2 km S of Ironcap, K.Newbey 5208 (PERTH).
(ARC & BRM)