Acacia saxicola Pedley, Contr. Queensland Herb. 4: 4 (1969)
Diffuse, much-branched shrub to 1.5 m high. Branchlets sparsely hirsutellous or glabrous. Stipules 1.5–3 mm long. Phyllodes crowded, scattered, some subverticillate, subsessile, patent to inclined, lanceolate to narrowly triangular, straight to shallowly recurved, 7.5–14 mm long, 1.7–3 mm wide, acuminate, pungent, rigid, dark glossy green, glabrous; midrib prominent; gland obscure, 2–3 mm above base. Inflorescences 1-headed rudimentary racemes with axes c. 0.5 mm long; peduncles 6–15 mm long, stout, 0.5–1 mm diam., glabrous; basal bract often trifid; heads globular, 13 mm diam., 40–50-flowered, pale golden yellow; bracteoles acuminate, exserted beyond flowers in buds. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free, oblanceolate; petals 1-nerved. Pods to 3 cm long and 5 mm wide, firmly chartaceous to crustaceous, irregularly undulate, dark brown, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, depressed-globular, 4 mm long, exarillate.
Known only from Mt Maroon, Maroon Natl Park, S of Boonah in south-eastern Qld. It is a major constituent of heath on the summit of the mountain (alt. c. 900m) and grows on rocky slopes in soil pockets within rock crevices.
A member of the ‘ A. ulicifolia group’ and distinguished from A. ulicifolia itself by broader phyllodes, stouter peduncles, pale golden heads and exserted bracteoles. Its phyllodes resemble those of A. siculiformis .
Type of accepted name
Mt Maroon, Qld, 25 June 1966, L.Pedley 2140 ; holo: BRI; iso: CANB, NSW.
Synonymy
Racosperma saxicola (Pedley) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 355 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Illustrations
B.A.Lebler, Wildfl. SE Queensland 2: 40 & colour pl. (1981).
Representative collection
Qld: Mt Maroon, S.L.Everist 7050 (BRI).
(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.
