Acacia littorea Maslin
WATTLE
Acacias of Australia
Family
Fabaceae
Distribution
Coastal areas from near Busselton E to Bremer Bay, and on Rottnest Is., south-western W.A.
Description
Dense shrub 1–2 m high. Branchlets prominently ribbed, glabrous. Stipules caducous. Phyllodes rather crowded, ascending, obtriangular to obdeltate with a prominent gland-bearing angle on adaxial margin above the middle, sometimes asymmetrically trapeziform with 2 gland-bearing angles, with adaxial proximal margin ±contiguous with branchlet, ±obliquely truncate, 7–17 mm long, 5–15 mm wide, l:w = 1–2, sometimes larger, pungent, glabrous; midrib near lower margin. Inflorescences extremely reduced 1- (3- or 4-) headed racemes with axes to c. 0.5 mm long; peduncles 6–12 mm long, glabrous; heads globular, 8–15-flowered, pale yellow. Flowers 4-merous; sepals united to near apex, with lobes broadly triangular. Pods linear, curved, to 6 cm long, 2.5–3.5 mm wide, crustaceous, blackish, glabrous or subglabrous; margins thick, yellowish. Seeds longitudinal, oblong, 2.5–3 mm long, shiny, brown; aril scarcely clavate.
Phenology
Flowers Aug.–Dec.
Habitat
Grows on coastal dunes in deep sand, commonly in heath; often locally abundant.
Specimens
W.A.: Bald Head, King George Sound, Albany, Dec. 1801, R.Brown (BM, K—no. 4310); Rottnest Is., Parker Point area, F.G.Smith 2384 (PERTH); Bremer Bay, P.G.Wilson 4307 (AD, E, K, L, MEL, PERTH); Cape Leeuwin, P.G.Wilson 10235 (K, MEL, NSW, PERTH).
Notes
Possibly better treated as a subspecies of A. truncata. See B.R.Maslin, Nuytsia 2: 311–321 (1978), for discussion.
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 J.Rogers
B.R.Maslin
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a mobile application:
URL: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/wattle/
© Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.