Acacia newmanii Tindale & D.Keith (ms)
Erect, glabrous, resinous shrub to 2 m high. Bark smooth, fissured at base, grey. Branchlets angular or flattened towards apices, brown or red-brown, with conspicuous lenticels; ridges resin-crenulated. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic to broadly elliptic or rarely oblanceolate, oblique, sigmoid, straight or curved, (1.2–) 2–5 cm long, (6–) 8–20 mm wide, subcoriaceous or coriaceous, stiff, scurfy, with conspicuous stomata, the apices of young phyllodes often dilated and resinous, the apical mucro thick, knob-like and oblique, finely longitudinally wrinkled, with 3 (or 4) longitudinal, semiprominent nerves often not reaching apex, the minor parallel nerves obscure, not anastomosing; gland basal, prominent. Peduncles 7–22 (–30) mm long, (0.6–) 1–1.2 mm diam. Capitula 7–12 mm diam., 40–60-flowered, golden; bracteoles broadly capitate, sometimes with filiform apex; buds compactly arranged, later spreading. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 1–1.5 mm long, truncate, thin, glabrous, with pale midribs; corolla 2–3.5 mm long, c. twice as long as calyx, dissected by 1/2, glabrous, the petals 0.5–0.6 mm long, with acute to acuminate, thickened apices, with prominent midribs. Pods erect, oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, straight-sided, 2.5–6.2 cm long, 5.5–10 mm wide, thinly woody, brown or tan, with strongly oblique nerves, scurfy, opening elastically from an obtuse, hooked apex; margins and seed-partitions prominent. Seeds oblique, elliptic or narrowly elliptic, 4–6.5 mm long, brown to blackish brown; pleurogram with pale halo; funicle-aril narrowly turbinate.
Occurs in W.A. in the Kimberley region, from Kalumburu S to Barnett Stn, Gibb R. road, also in N.T. as far N as Blunder Bay, Victoria R., from Keep River Natl Park E to Jasper Gorge. Grows in sandy, gravelly soils, on sandstone or quartzite, on rocky hills, flats or in gorges near creeks, mostly in savannah woodland or savannah-tall grassland, often with spinifex. Flowers Mar.–Oct.
In the northern portion of its range in both W.A. and N.T. the phyllodes tend to be longer (2–5 cm), broader (10–15 mm) and non-sigmoid, and the more mature buds slightly spreading, whereas in the southern portion of its range the phyllodes are mostly shorter (1.2–2 cm), narrower (3–8 mm) and sigmoid, and the buds more compact. The flowers are identical across the range of the species. Acacia newmanii is a member of the ‘ A. stigmatophylla group’ and is most closely related to A. translucens , as well as having affinities to A. stellaticeps , A. nuperrima and A. setulifera .
Type of accepted name
25 miles [40 km] W of Kununurra, W.A., F.Lullfitz L6195 ; holo: NSW; iso: K, PERTH.
Illustration
M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 1: 215 (1987), as A. translucens .
Representative collections
W.A.: Kalumburu Mission, J.R.Maconochie 1263 (BRI, DNA, NSW, PERTH); 12.8 km SW of Kununurra from Carlton Stn, M.D.Tindale 10136, P.Munns & R.Turley (BRI, CANB, DNA, K, MEL, NSW, MO, PERTH). N.T.: Ningbing area, C.Done 416 (DNA, PERTH); Keep R. Natl Park, C.R.Dunlop 5761 (DNA, PERTH).
(NSW)
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.
