Acacia websteri Maiden & Blakely, J. Roy. Soc. W. Australia 13: 25; pl. 15, figs 6- 12 (1928)
Tall shrub or tree to 5 m high. Branchlets flattened at tips, soon terete, sparsely appressed-puberulous apically but soon glabrous, sometimes white-resinous. Phyllodes erect, linear, 5- 11.5 cm long, 2- 3.5 mm wide, tapering to a long-acuminate, gently curved apex, thinly coriaceous, sericeous becoming glabrous, 3-nerved per face, the nerves distant and raised, sometimes with infrequent anastomoses. Inflorescences simple, sometimes in rudimentary racemes with axes to c. 1 mm long; peduncles 2- 6 mm long, appressed-puberulous; heads obloid to subglobular, 5- 6 mm long, 4 mm diam., 30- 36-flowered, golden; bracteoles spathulate with rounded blade. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free; petals 1/2-united. Pods narrowly linear, slightly ridged longitudinally, straight, biconvex, to 8 cm long, 2- 3 mm wide, sparsely appressed-puberulous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong, 3.5 mm long, light brown; aril terminal.
Known only from the Bencubbin and Coolgardie- Kambalda areas, inland southern W.A. Grows mostly in red loam, sand and clay in drainage depressions, in shrubland and scrub.
Related to A. symonii and perhaps also A. gibbosa ; reminescent of A. heteroclita and A. obtecta , both in sect. Plurinerves , which have globular ( globular in A. heteroclita ) heads and mottled seeds (although indistinctly in A. obtecta ).
Type of accepted name
Coolgardie, W.A., L.C.Webster; holo: NSW; iso: K, PERTH.
Illustrations
J.H.Maiden & W.F.Blakely, loc. cit .
Representative collections
W.A.: c. 20 km due SSE of Bencubbin, B.R.Maslin 1992 (B, CANB, K, MEL, PERTH); 7.5 km towards Queen Victoria Rock from Great Eastern Hwy, B.R.Maslin 4824 (CANB, K, MEL, PERTH).
(RSC & BRM)