Acacia oxyclada F.Muell. ex Benth., Fl. Austral . 2: 341 (1864)
Spreading shrub 0.1–1 m high. Branches dividing into short, slender, straight, inclined to ascending, spinescent, glabrous to subglabrous branchlets. Phyllodes erect, narrowly oblong to linear, horizontally flattened, 7–13 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, obtuse, green, glabrous or subglabrous, with obscure nerves, 1-nerved on upper surface, 3-nerved and sparsely reticulate on lower surface; gland on upper surface near apex, often absent. Inflorescences rudimentary 1-headed racemes with axes to 1 mm long; peduncles 5–10 mm long, glabrous; heads slightly obloid, 20–25-flowered, golden; bracteole laminae evident in bud, white-fimbriolate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods straight to curved, to 5 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal to oblique, ovate, 2–2.5 mm long, shiny, obscurely mottled; aril as long as seed.
Occurs predominantly from the Greenough R. near Geraldton N to near Kalbarri, south-western W.A., but with one collection from near Moora (c. 250 km SSE of Geraldton) and another from near L. Varley (c. 400 km SE of Moora). Grows in sand, lateritic sand, sandy loam, loam and rocky loam, often on sandplains, in low shrubland of Acacia spp. and Melaleuca .
Diaphyllodes (horizontally flattened phyllodes, i.e. depressed) with the gland situated on the upper surface of the lamina are rare in Acacia ; see discussion under A. diaphyllodinea for description of this character-state and literature references.
The illustration of A. oxyclada in J.H.Maiden, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 53: pl. 12, figs 1 & 2 (1920), contains discordant elements: in pl. 12, figs 1 & 2 are A. oxyclada and figs 3–9 are A. pulviniformis . Also in J.H.Maiden, op. cit. 196, the flowers and pods described in the table are those of A. pulviniformis .
Closely allied to A. basedowii .
Type of accepted name
Murchison R., W.A., A.Oldfield s.n. ; holo: K; iso (labelled Oldfield 984 ): MEL606758 & 606760, NSW, PERTH.
Synonymy
[ Acacia ulicina auct. non Meisn.: F. von Mueller, Iconogr. Austral. Acacia dec. 1 [pl. 9] (1887) p.p. , see below; E.Pritzel, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 35: 299 (1904)]
Illustrations
F. von Mueller, loc. cit ., as to flowering specimen [fruiting specimen on this plate is A. ulicina ]; J.H.Maiden, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 53: pl. 12, figs 1 & 2 (1920).
Representative collections
W.A.: Greenough R. Crossing, L.Diels 4211 (PERTH); 6.5 km W of Moora towards Dandaragan, B.R.Maslin 4353 (PERTH); 50 km N of Lake King on road to L. Varley, M.H.Simmons 1332 (PERTH); 53.6 km S of Northampton P.O. on North West Coastal Hwy, M.D.Tindale 2688 (NSW, 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.
