Acacia quadrimarginea F.Muell., Fragm . 10: 31 (1876)
Obconic shrub or tree 1.5–6 m high, often gnarled. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes normally widely spreading, narrowly elliptic to linear-elliptic, commonly shallowly falcate, 4–13 cm long, (1–) 2–7 mm wide, acute with a staight to hooked tip, coriaceous, shiny, glabrous, with numerous closely parallel nerves with the central nerve the most evident, the marginal nerves normally red- or brown-resinous. Inflorescences simple; peduncles 2–7 mm long, puberulous to glabrous; heads broadly ellipsoid, obloid or cylindrical, 6–20 mm long, 4–6 mm diam., golden. Flowers 5-merous, resinous; sepals united to 1/3. Pods narrowly oblong, flat but often appearing tetragonous by development of marginal wings perpendicular to face, to 12 cm long, mostly 7–12 mm wide, woody, the faces densely red resin-haired. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic, 8–9.5 mm long, dull, dark brown; aril terminal, turbinate.
Widely distributed in south-central W.A. from Cobra Stn SE to Sinclair Soak and E as far as the Great Victoria Desert. Grows commonly on granitic and lateritic hills and outcrops, in open shrubland, especially with members of the ‘Acacia aneura group’.
There is very considerable variation in the shape and dimensions of the phyllodes but they are never pendulous. The red or brown margins so typical of the species are not always obvious, sometimes appearing on the young phyllodes but not on the older ones.
In a study of aboriginal uses of plants in the Leonora area of W.A., A.Parker, Austral. Instit. Aboriginal Stud. Newsletter 41 (1980), records this species with the name ‘marnanpa’ and the fact that bardie grubs are found in roots and the galls are edible.
Closely related to A. demissa and also similar in many respects to A. tarculensis of S.A. An undescribed taxon with affinities to A. quadrimarginea is keyed and described separately in WATTLE as A. affin. quadrimarginea .
Type of accepted name
Between Ularring and 121 25’E, W.A., 10–15 Oct. 1875, [J.] Young ; holo: MEL; iso: NSW, PERTH.
Synonymy
[ Acacia aneura auct. non F.Muell. ex Benth.: S.Moore, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 34: 189 (1899)]
Illustration
B.R.Maslin, in J.P.Jessop (ed.), Fl. Central Australia 125, fig. 161L (1981).
Representative collections
W.A.: Mt Singleton SW of Paynes Find, W.E.Blackall 13 (PERTH); Great Victoria Desert, M.I.H.Brooker 8573 (PERTH); 48 km from Paynes Find towards Wubin, B.R.Maslin 3555 (PERTH); Cobra Stn, 78 km N of Landor HS on track to Mount Augustus Stn, B.R.Maslin 5195 (PERTH); 20 km NE of Sinclair Soak, c. 75 km NE of Norseman, K.Newbey 7009 (PERTH).
(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.
