Acacia subcaerulea Lindl., Bot. Reg. 13: t. 1075 (1827)
Blue-barked Acacia
Closely related to A. suaveolens but differing mainly in the following ways. Phyllodes 2.5–8 cm long, infrequently 10 cm, 3–10 mm wide, usually l:w = 5–13 (12–25 in A. suaveolens ), normally slightly thicker (therefore more wrinkled when dry) and straight. Raceme axes 2–3.5 cm long; peduncles (flowering) 5–10 mm long, slightly thicker; heads 10–20-flowered.
Occurs within c. 80 km of the coast from the Stirling Ra.- Albany area E to near Israelite Bay and on Mondrain Is., south-western W.A. Grows in sand, loam, or sometimes clay, commonly on granite or quartzite hills, in heath, closed scrub, open Mallee scrub or low woodland.
Specimens with short phyllodes were described as A. apiculata and A. subcaerulea var. parvifolia but these appear not to warrant formal recognition.
Future studies may show that A. subcaerulea is better treated as an infraspecific taxon of A. suaveolens . These taxa are usually reliably distinguished by the characters given above, especially by the number of flowers per head and the phyllode l:w ratio. However, a fruiting specimen from Mt Ragged ( B.Barnsley 313 , PERTH) has unusually elongate phyllodes (l:w = 20- 25), like those of A. suaveolens . The specimen is tentatively referred to A. subcaerulea because the phyllodes have dried wrinkled and because other specimens from Mt Ragged show the heads to be c. 20 flowers. The combined distributions of A. subcaerulea and A. suaveolens resembles that of A. myrtifolia .
G.Bentham, Fl. Austral. 2: 369(1864) erroneously synonymised A. hemiteles under A. subcaerulea .
Phyllodes sometimes resemble those of some forms of A. leptopetala .
Type of accepted name
Cultivated, hort. bot. Comtesse de Vandes, 5 June 1826; holo: CGE.
Synonymy
? Acacia subcaerulea F.Cels, Ann. Fl. Pomone 1836- 1837: 93 (1836), nom. illeg. (later homonym). Type: cultivated plant, raised by Cels from cuttings purchased as ‘A. subcaerulea’ from England; n.v. (Cels was apparently unaware that Lindley had published A. subcaerulea in 1827; while it is probable that Cels’ description applies to Lindley’s taxon, it is difficult to be certain in the absence of having seen the type.)
Acacia apiculata Meisn., in J.G.C.Lehmann, Pl. Preiss. 1: 17 (1844). Type: Cape Riche, W.A., 20 Nov. 1840, L.Preiss 919 ; lecto: LD; fide B.R.Maslin & R.S.Cowan, Nuytsia 9: 402 (1994); isolecto: G, NY.
Acacia subcaerulea var. parvifolia Benth., Fl. Austral. 2: 370 (1864). Type: near Cape Riche, W.A., Mar. 1854, W.H.Harvey s.n .; syn: K; ‘Norabup’, W.A., A.Oldfield s.n. ; syn: K.
Illustration
M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 2: 171 (1988).
Representative collections
W.A.: Porongurup Ra., May 1934, E.M.Barker s.n. (PERTH); East Mt Barren, R.J.Cranfield 1432 (PERTH); Cape Arid Natl Park, J.W.Green 5147 (PERTH); Mt Ney, M.A.Burgman 1135 & S.McNee (PERTH); 5.5 km from Pallinup R. crossing towards Albany, B.R.Maslin 2596 (CANB, 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.
