Acacia pedina Kodela & Tame, Telopea 8: 305; 307, fig. 1 (1999)
Shrub or small tree 2– 5 (– 7) m high. Branchlets glabrous, usually pruinose, distally somewhat flexuose. Phyllodes (adult) oblanceolate to obovate, straight to shallowly recurved, 5– 10.5 (– 12) cm long, 12–35 (– 43) mm wide, with broadly obtuse apex and somewhat attenuated base, glabrous, with prominent midrib and a weak vein leading from the proximal part of the midvein to the gland and often extending distally as a inconspicuous intramarginal vein, penninerved; gland often slightly exserted, sometimes 2, the lowermost 10– 30 mm above pulvinus; juvenile/intermediate phyllodes larger, 8.5– 16 cm long, 27– 80 mm wide (with a gradual transition in size to the adult phyllodes), abruptly narrowed to obtuse or sometimes emarginate apex, with cuneate base, bluish- to brownish-green. Inflorescences racemose or paniculate; raceme axes 1– 9 cm long, slightly to markedly flexuose, glabrous; peduncles 2– 5 mm long, mostly broadening towards apex, glabrous; heads globular to slightly ovoid, c. (25–) 30– 40-flowered, yellow to golden; bracteoles with peltate lamina subcircular, 0.3– 0.5 mm diam., brown, fimbriolate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united for 1/2– 7/8 their length. Legumes linear, to 12 cm long, 5– 7.5 mm wide, firmly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, elliptic to oblong, 4– 6 mm long, blackish brown to black; funicle folded once or twice; aril clavate.
Occurs near Bermagui S to near Tathra, N.S.W. Grows in clayey or sandy loams, in eucalypt open forest, on hillslopes, headlands and behind sand dunes on coast. Fowers July–Oct.
Distinguished from closely related A. pycnantha by its mostly shorter stature, dimorphic phyllodes (morphology of juvenile and intermediate phyllodes differs from that of adult phyllodes), the non-falcate and generally shorter adult phyllodes, the large blue-green juvenile/intermediate phyllodes, and the smaller, fewer-flowered capitula generally on shorter racemes. The foliage in A. pycnantha is mostly greener and often more thickly coriaceous than that of A. pedina .
Some A. pycnantha specimens have features similar to A. pedina , including J.D.Briggs 2332 & A.V.Slee (BRI, CANB, MEL, NSW, PERTH) from 2.7 km SE of the summit of Mt Dowling, which has small, 27–37-flowered heads. Specimens of A. pycnantha s. lat . with less than 40 flowers per head, glaucous stems and similar phyllode morphology to A. pedina come from the Gippsland Plain and East Gippsland regions of Vic., e.g. E.M.Canning 1267 (NSW), A.N.Rodd 4291 (K, MEL, NSW), H.Salasoo 4854 & 4974 (NSW), H.van Rees 010 (MEL, NSW). These eastern Victorian specimens appear to have larger flower-heads than A. pedina , and further investigations of this group are required to assess its status and relationships with A. pedina . The distribution and conservation status of A. pedina may need to be reviewed in light of future findings.
Type of accepted name
Near Tanja, Mimosa Rocks Natl Park, South Coast, N.S.W., 19 July 1997 , P.G.Kodela 441 & P.C.Jobson ; holo: NSW; iso: AD, B, BRI, CANB, K, MEL, NE, MO, PERTH, UNSW, US.
Illustration
P.G.Kodela & T.M.Tame, loc. cit .
Representative collections
N.S.W.: near Tanja, R.G.Coveny 5829 & J.Armstrong (A, AD, B, BRI, CANB, E, FRI, HO, K, MEL, MO, NE, NSW, NY, PE, PERTH, PRE, UNSW); Mumbulla State Forest, R.G.Coveny 7311 (AD, B, BRI, CANB, DNA, HO, K, MEL, MO, NE, NSW, NY, PE, PERTH, PRE, UNSW); Mimosa Rocks National Park, P.G.Kodela 439 & P.C.Jobson , (CANB, MEL, MO, NSW); ditto, P.G.Kodela 440 & P.C.Jobson (NSW).
(PGK)
This species was not included in the Fl. Australia treatment of Acacia.
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.
