Common Name

Hammond's Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in tropical W.A. (Kimberley region), N.T. and Qld, between 13º30'S and 20ºS; fairly common in coastal and subcoastal districts around the lower Gulf of Carpentaria including the offshore islands, rarer in inland western N.T. and eastern Qld.

Description

Shrub or tree to 4 m high. Bark smooth or fibrous and fissured. Branchlets angular, resinous, glabrous or ±pubescent, with prominent lenticels. Phyllodes linear or very narrowly elliptic, flat, straight or slightly falcate, (4–) 6–8.5 (–11) cm long, (2–) 4–6 (–11) mm wide, thinly coriaceous, stiff, with numerous stomata, glabrous or sometimes ±pubescent, with 2 conspicuous acentral main nerves; minor nerves 4–6 per mm, not anastomosing or joining the margins; gland 1, basal, to 0.5 mm above pulvinus. Peduncles 3–7 (–10) mm long. Spikes 1.2–3 cm long. Flowers 5-merous; calyx cupular, 0.6–0.9 mm long, dissected to 1/3, ciliolate margins; corolla 1.3–1.9 mm long, dissected to 1/2, glabrous; ovary densely white-pubescent. Pods cultrate to narrowly oblong, straight-sided or scarcely indented, 2.7–6 cm long, 5–10 mm wide, papery, shiny, glabrous. Seeds transverse, broadly elliptic, 3.5–5 mm long, dark brown to black; pleurogram with narrow halo; areole almost closed, pale.

Phenology

Flowers May–Aug.

Habitat

Grows in open eucalypt woodland often with a grassy understorey, in sand, sandy loam, clay and stony laterite.

Specimens

W.A.: 2.5 km W of Traine R. on the Mt House-Tableland Stn road, T.E.H.Aplin 5106 (K, MEL, NSW, PERTH). N.T.: 4 km NW of Edith R., Stuart Hwy, 6 Aug. 1978, M.Reed (AD, BRI, CANB, DNA, K, MEL, PER); Centre Is., Pellew Is. group, Gulf of Carpentaria, B.Rice 2031 (A, CANB, NSW). Qld: 109 km by road NW of Laura P.O. towards Musgrave Stn, R.G.Coveny 7041 & P.D.Hind (BRI, CANB, K, L, MEL, NSW, QRS, TL, UC, US, Z); c. 8 km N of Lynd Junction towards Mount Garnet, A.N.L.Doust 282 & E.A.Brown (BRI, NSW).

Notes

This species is variable in the width and indumentum of the phyllodes. The type specimen of A. sphaerogemma is very similar to other material of A. hammondii except that the glands on the phyllodes are narrow, longitudinal and slit-like. Acacia malloclada is perhaps simply a variant within this complex. Acacia hammondii is allied to A. hemsleyi. A rare putative hybrid between A. cowleana and A. hammondii is recorded from near Musselbrook, Qld (R.J.Cumming 17563, BRI). Specimens without fruit may be confused with A. torulosa.

FOA Reference

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

Author

Minor edits by B.R.Maslin & J.Rogers

Dr M.D.Tindale and Dr P.G.Kodela with the assistance of M.Bedward, S.J.Davies, C.Herscovitch, D.A.Keith and/or D.A.Morrison