Acacia subulata Bonpl., Descr. Pl. Malmaison 110, t. 45 (1816)
Awl-leaf Wattle
Rather weak shrub or tree 2–4 m high. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes filiform to narrowly linear, slender, straight to shallowly incurved, flat or quadrangular to terete, normally 6–14 cm long, 0.8–2 mm wide, acute, flexible, green to subglaucous, glabrous, often longitudinally wrinkled when dry, finely 4-nerved in all, 1-nerved per face when flat. Inflorescences racemose; raceme axes normally 1–2.5 cm long, slender, glabrous; peduncles 3–6 mm long, slender, glabrous; heads globular, 12–20-flowered, pale yellow or bright lemon yellow; bracteoles peltate, the circular laminae white- or pale yellow-fimbriolate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals c. 5/6-united. Pods linear, straight-edged or constricted between seeds, to c. 18 cm long, 5–8 mm wide, firmly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic, 5–7 mm long, slightly shiny, black; funicle encircling seed in a single or double fold, red-brown to black; aril clavate.
Occurs on the tablelands and western slopes of the Great Divide from Lithgow N to Warialda and W to the plains near Pilliga, N.S.W. G.M.Cunningham et al. , Pl. W New South Wales 373 (1981), record A. subulata from the Rankins Springs- Griffith area, however, this is probably based on a misidentification of A. calamifolia . Grows in sand or sandy loam, often along creeks.
The phyllodes are commonly quadrangular to terete in section, but in the Merriwa- Gungul- Murrumbo area and sometimes Narrabri- Pilliga area they are flat. This flat phyllode form is common in cultivation where it may reach 7 m high.
A member of the ‘ A. microbotrya group’ closely allied to the more westerly distributed A. calamifolia which is distinguished especially by its phyllodes which have narrowed to delicate, characteristically curved points (in A. subulata the phyllodes end in short, straight, erect points). Also, in A. calamifolia the phyllode nerves are less pronounced (often impressed) than those of A. subulata and the heads are more than 20-flowered. The Macquarie R., Fraser , specimen cited by G.Bentham, Fl . Austral. 2: 339 (1864) under A. calamifolia is A. subulata .
Type of accepted name
‘Habitat in Nova Hollandia’; n.v.
Illustrations
G.M.Cunningham et al. , Pl. W New South Wales 373 (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 2: 155 (1988); T.Tame, Acacias SE Australia 160, fig. 178, pl. 178 (1992).
Representative collections
N.S.W.: Crown Ck, Capertee Valley, c. 40.2 km N of Lithgow, E.F.Constable 7192 (NSW, PERTH); Pilliga Scrub, E.C.Rolls 65 (NSW); 5.5 km E of Bylong on the road to Muswellbrook, B.R.Maslin 5914 (MEXU, NSW, PERTH); Warialda, T.Tame 10/87 (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.
