Acacia microcephala Pedley, Austobaileya 1: 193 (1978)
Tree 3–10 m high. Bark finely fissured, dark grey. Branchlets sparsely to moderately appressed-puberulous, often scurfy. Phyllodes linear, straight to slightly curved, 6.5–13.5 cm long, 1–2 mm wide, acute to acuminate with shallowly curved to subuncinate tip, sparsely to moderately appressed-puberulous, with numerous closely parallel, indistinct nerves. Inflorescences 1–6-headed racemes; raceme axes 1–2.5 mm long, appressed-puberulous; peduncles 2–7 mm long, appressed-puberulous; heads globular, 3.5–4 mm diam., 10–20-flowered, golden; bracteoles broadly obtrullate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united into a shortly lobed cup. Pods moniliform, to 4.5 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, chartaceous to very thin-crustaceous, glabrous to sparsely appressed-puberulous. Seeds longitudinal, elliptic, 3–4.5 mm long, glossy brown; funicle slender; aril small.
Occurs principally in the area N and NW of Aramac in west-central Qld. Grows in hard, stony, alkaline clay soil.
Seems very close to the more southerly distributed A. microsperma which differs most obviously in its more numerous flowers per head, generally slightly wider phyllodes, spathulate bracteoles and narrower pods.
Type of accepted name
‘Corinda’, c. 80 miles [130 km] N of Aramac, Qld, June 1949, S.L.Everist 3869 ; holo: BRI; iso: NSW n.v.
Synonymy
Racosperma microcephalum (Pedley) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 352 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Representative collections
Qld: ‘Loana’, 50 km SE of Hughenden, 10 Dec. 1984 , J.A.Gibbs (BRI); 14.4 km N of Jardine Valley Stn, M.Lazarides & R.L.Speck 4532 (BRI, CANB).
(RSC & 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.
