Acacia translucens A.Cunn. ex Hook., Icon. Pl . 2: t. 160 (1837)
Erect, glabrous, resinous, sometimes scurfy, shrub to 2 m high, usually branching near base. Bark smooth, dark grey to black. Branchlets angular towards apices with often resin-crenulated ridges. Phyllodes elliptic to narrowly elliptic (sometimes slightly wider below or above middle), oblique, curved and slightly sigmoid, (0.6–) 1–2 cm long, 4–9 mm wide, with an oblique short mucro (the apices of young phyllodes often dilated, pellucid and appear as if filled with gummy or resinous fluid, fide protologue), thinly coriaceous, sometimes glaucous, with 3 visible main nerves, the minor nerves longitudinally obscure, finely longitudinally wrinkled; gland basal, minute, to 1.5 mm above pulvinus. Peduncles (5–) 13–22 cm long, 0.5–0.7 mm diam. Capitula 5–8 mm diam., 20–50-flowered, medium golden or bright yellow, sometimes light golden; buds slightly spreading; bracteoles mostly with short irregularly triangular, peltate lamina. Flowers 5-merous; calyx cupular, 1–1.3 mm long, dissected to 1/8–1/6; corolla 2–2.5 mm long, dissected to 1/3–1/2, the petals with prominent midrib. Pods erect, narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate, basally tapered, 2–5.5 cm long, (4–) 5–10 mm wide, thinly woody and brittle, brown to blackish, obliquely nerved, opening elastically from apex. Seeds oblique, oblong, 3–5.8 mm long, brown; pleurogram with pale halo; funicle-aril narrowly turbinate.
Occurs in the Kimberley region of W.A. and in north-western (particularly Victoria River region) N.T. Grows often on sandstone, on hillsides and gully floors, in eucalypt woodland, common in deep red sand in ‘spinifex’ country. Flowers Jan.–Oct.
Acacia translucens is most closely related to A. newmanii , A. nuperrima , A. setulifera and A. stellaticeps , which together comprise part of the ‘ A. stigmatophylla group’. There are variants and possibly intergrades between A. translucens and some of these taxa which require further investigation. For example, there are several specimens from the Mitchell Plateau area with small phyllodes (to 1 cm long) which have a apical setose point (lost or broken from many phyllodes probably with age), as well having bracteoles similar to A. nuperrima , e.g. B.R.Maslin 5091 (NSW, PERTH).
Type of accepted name
Montagu Sound, NW coast, 1820, A.Cunningham 295 ; holo: K (photo NSW); iso: BM.
Synonymy
Racosperma translucens (A.Cunn. ex Hook.) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 356 (1987). Type: as for accepted name.
Doubtful name
Acacia translucens var. (?) oblonga Benth: see Doubtful Names.
Illustration
W.J.Hooker, loc. cit .
Representative collections
W.A.: Mount Barnett Stn, J.S.Beard 4185 (NSW); 5 km E of estuary mouth of the Mitchell R., B.R.Maslin 5101 (NSW, PERTH). N.T.: Keep River Natl Park, S.King 79 (DNA); Legune Stn, G.Leach 4108 (BRI, DNA, NSW, PERTH).
(NSW)
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.
