Acacia sabulosa Maslin, Nuytsia 12: 393–394 (1999)
Bushy, glabrous, resinous shrub 1–3 m high. Phyllodes narrowly linear, usually 6–10 cm long and 1–3.5 mm wide with l:w = 20–100, narrowed at base, thin, green, sparsely tuberculate; midrib not prominent; lateral nerves obscure, openly longitudinally anastomosing and some parallel to midrib; gland circular to oblong–elliptic, 0.2–0.5 mm long, 1–2 mm above pulvinus, a smaller gland at base of mucro. Inflorescences simple, initiated on new shoots, 1 or 2 per axil; peduncles 6–20 mm long, slender, the base ebracteate; heads globular, densely 35–50-flowered, bright light golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 3/4–5/6-united. Pods narrowly oblong, flat, raised over seeds alternately on each side, to 6 cm long, c. 1 cm wide, chartaceous. Seeds transverse to slightly oblique, oblong to elliptic, 4–4.5 mm long; funicle and aril membranous, creamy white.
Discontinuous, occurring near Roebourne, Mandora (c. 250 km due NE of Port Hedland) and in the south-central Great Sandy Desert, north-western W.A.; also occurs near Fiddlers Lake N.T. Grows in deep red or brown sand, commonly on dunes, associated with spinifex.
Few specimens have atypically short/broad phyllodes, 5–7 cm long, 5–6 mm wide, l:w = 10–15 (e.g. Telfer Mining Centre, E.M.Goble-Garratt 93 , BRI, PERTH). The typical form also grows in the same region.
Near A. jensenii which has generally shorter, broader phyllodes and a more open growth habit with normally one or two main stems arising from the base. Along with A. jensenii and A. melleodora , A. sabulosa may possibly be better treated as an infraspecific taxon of A. dictyophleba . Vegetatively resembling A. hockingsii .
Type of accepted name
Near Cossack Cemetery, Cossack, W.A., 16 May 1982, B.R.Maslin 5249 ; holo: PERTH; iso: BRI, CANB, G, K, MEL, NSW, NY.
Representative collections
W.A. L. Auld, A.S.George 15667 (CANB, K, MEL, NY, PERTH); 8 km E of Telfer Mining Centre, E.M.Goble-Garratt 245 (CANB, MO, PERTH); 26 km due ESE of Sandfire Roadhouse, between Port Hedland and Broome, B.R.Maslin 4878 (NSW, PERTH). N.T.: c. 16 km SSE of Fiddlers Lake, Sangsters Bore area, D.E.Albrecht 6176 (DNA, NT, 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.
