Acacia pravissima F.Muell., Fragm . 1: 5 (1858) ; J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot . 3: 118 (1859); First Gen. Rep. Govt. Bot. 12 (1853), nom. nud.; G.Bentham, Linnaea 26: 608 (1855), adnot.
Oven(s) Wattle , Wedge-leaf Wattle , Tumut Wattle
Shrub or tree usually 3–8 m high; branches slender and spreading or arching gracefully. Branchlets ribbed, glabrous or hirsutellous. Phyllodes crowded, on short stem-projections, markedly inequilateral, generally obdeltate with adaxial margin conspicuously rounded with the proximal edge parallel to branchlet, usually 7–12 mm long and 5–14 mm wide, mucronate, green to grey-green, glabrous, imperfectly 2-nerved; midrib near abaxial margin and a lesser nerve above it; lateral nerves indistinct; gland prominent, 3–7 mm above base, sometimes similar to A. kettlewelliae . Inflorescences prolific, racemose; raceme axes longer than phyllodes, glabrous or hirsutellous; peduncles 2–4 mm long, slender, glabrous; heads globular, 6–9-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods narrowly oblong, to c. 8 cm long, 6–9 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to ovate, 3.5–5 mm long, dull, black; aril clavate.
Occurs in south-eastern Australia in the higher parts of the Great Divide from near Tumut, N.S.W. and Cotter R., A.C.T., to the Strathbogie Ra. and Macalister R., Vic. Usually grows near streams or in moist sheltered sites, often in open Eucalyptus forest.
A variant with consistently small phyllodes, 4–5 mm long and 3–4 mm wide, occurs at Splitters Ck, between Suggan Buggan and Wulgulmerang, north-eastern Vic. (e.g. W.Molyneux & S.Forrester , PERTH00891525). These are dwarf plants, mostly to 0.9 m high, which spread by suckering and which do not seem to set fruit. (Note: In WATTLE this variant is keyed and described separately, as A. nanopravissima . ) Dwarf variants of A. boormanii and A. buxifolia subsp. buxifolia occur in this same area: in WATTLE these two variants are treated as A. infecunda and A. tabula respectively.
At Paradise Falls, north-eastern Vic., A. pravissima hybridises with both A. kettlewelliae and the Mt Typo variant of A. boormanii . These hybrids are recognised by the following characters: phyllodes slightly inequilateral, narrowly elliptic, acute to subacute, 17–30 mm long, 4–10 mm wide, the second longitudinal nerve (when developed) obscure and normally intersecting the gland. They resemble A. semibinervia (which is possibly a garden hybrid involving A. pravissima and A. vestita ) or sometimes A. buxifolia subsp. buxifolia .
Sometimes superficially resembling A. cultriformis which has commonly longer, grey-green to glaucous phyllodes and globular to shortly cylindrical, 13–40-flowered heads.
A widely cultivated ornamental species with prolific racemes at ends of branchlets. A prostrate variant ‘Golden Carpet’ and a dwarf variant (c. 0.5 m high) are known in cultivation but should be propagated from cuttings to retain their respective growth habits, fide W.R.Elliot & D.L.Jones, Encycl. Austral. Pl . 2: 99 (1982).
Type of accepted name
Upper Snowy R., Vic., Jan. 1855, F.Mueller ; syn: K, MEL; Buffalo Ranges, Vic., Feb.1855, F.Mueller ; syn: K, MEL.
Synonymy
Racosperma pravissimum (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 359 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
N.T.Burbidge & M.Gray, Fl. Austral. Cap. Terr. 199, fig. 193E (1970); L.F.Costermans, Native Trees & Shrubs SE Australia 326 (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 115 (1981); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 170, fig. 193, pl. 193 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: near Tumut to the Yarrangobilly Caves, Feb. 1897, E.Betche s.n . (NSW). A.C.T.: between Bulls Head and Bendora Dam, Cotter R. district, R.Pullen 3859 (NSW). Vic.: near Paradise Falls, c. 13 km SSE of Whitfield, F.E.Bienvenu P22 (PERTH); Magilton Ck, 2.4 km NW of Strathbogie, H.I.Aston 658 (MEL).
(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.
