Acacia smeringa A.S.George, J. Roy. Soc. Western Australia 82: 102 (1999)
Erect shrub to c. 1 m high, viscid. Stems loosely tomentose with white hairs to c. 0.5 mm long. Stipules linear-subulate, 1.5–2 mm long, incurved, yellowish. Phyllodes 15–20 per whorl, erect to spreading with recurved to uncinate tip, linear, 2–7 mm long, the excentric, spreading to recurved mucro 2.5–3 mm long, thick, setose, glabrous. Peduncles 14–22 mm long, pilose with spreading white hairs. Heads c. 30-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 1.5 mm long, glabrous, the lobes short, broad, obtuse, striate; corolla 2.5 mm long, scarcely striate, glabrous. Pods sessile or almost so, linear, flat but raised over seeds, gently curved, 3–7.5 cm long, 5–6.5 mm wide, brown, glabrous; margin thickened. Seeds 5–9 per pod, longitudinal, ovoid-obovoid with oblique apex, 5–6 mm long, 4–6 mm wide, shining, black; pleurogram closed.
Known from the type, a collection from near the Manning R., and one from the Mt Jameson area, W.A. Grows in shallow rocky soil, in woodland dominated by Eucalyptus argillacea with Triodia common in the understorey. Flowers May–June.
Related to A. lycopodiifolia but distinguished especially by the recurved to uncinate phyllode tip with very long mucro, the more numerous phyllodes per whorl, longer calyx with short, broad lobes, and glabrous, scarcely striate corolla. Similar to A. anasilla . The phyllode shape, shortly lobed calyx, larger scarcely striate glabrous corolla and closed pleurogram distinguish it from A. capillaris . The Tudor collection has a mucro 1.5–1.7 mm long. A recent collection from the Caroline Ra., Mt Elizabeth Stn ( R.L.Barrett , PERTH), closely resembles A. smeringa but has hispid flowers.
Type of accepted name
Packhorse Ra., W. A., May 1905, W.V. Fitzgerald 1009 ; holo: PERTH.
Representative collections
W.A.: near Manning R., I.Cowie 329 (PERTH); Mt Jameson area, E.R.Tudor B14 (MEL).
(ASG)
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.
