Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

The species is confined to Mt Abbot, Qld.

Description

Shrubs to c. 4 m tall; bark lamellated (described by collector as ‘fibrous’). Branchlets glabrous, pale brown but often with a grey-white overlay of dead epidermal cells. Phyllodes linear, (7–) 9.5–15 cm long, 1.5–2 mm wide, straight to shallowly incurved, glabrous, with numerous parallel non-anastomosing longitudinal nerves, the central nerve slightly more pronounced that the rest. Inflorescences 2- or 3-headed rudimentary racemes 1–2 mm long; peduncles 1–2 mm long, resinous, glabrous or subglabrous; spikes short-cylindrical, 8–9 mm long and c. 5 mm wide at anthesis (when dry). Flowers 5-merous; calyx gamosepalous, cupular, membranous, invested with rather dense arachnoid hairs; petals 1.3–1.5 mm long. Pods to 35 mm long, 2–2.5 mm wide, shallowly curved, pale brown, marginal nerves thick. Seeds longitudinal 2.4–3.2 mm long, 1.3–1.4 mm wide; funicle thickened into a small aril capping the seed.

Habitat

Grows in heathland on rather steep slopes on skeletal soils derived from granite.

Specimens

Qld: Mt Abbot, 20°06’S 147°46’E, alt. 800 m, Oct. 1992, A.R.Bean 5196 (BRI).

Notes

Acacia abbatiana is closely related to A. granitica, and was recorded as such by A.R.Bean, Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 104: 43–66 (1994). The more widespread and southerly distributed A. granitica is most readily distinguished from A. abbatiana by its non-lamellated bark, commonly wider phyllodes (at least in Qld), narrower and often shorter spikes which are not inserted on short racemes, smaller flowers, calyx with rather dense arachnoid hairs and shorter pods with smaller seeds.

FOA Reference

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia

Author

B.R.Maslin