WATTLE

Acacias of Australia

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Acacia spania Pedley

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from two localities near Emerald, Qld.

Description

Tree to 15 m high; single-stemmed, glabrous. Bark ‘ironbark’-type. Branchlets angular, light brown, scurfy. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic to elliptic, flat, straight or sometimes subfalcate, normally 2–5 cm long, 10–20 mm wide, coriaceous, stiff, slightly glaucous, scurfy, with 3–5 main nerves scarcely prominent; minor nerves c. 10 per mm, longitudinal, very inconspicuous, not anastomosing; gland 1, rudimentary, basal, to 1 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences racemose; raceme axes (1–) 2–3 (–5) mm long. Spikes 2.5–4 cm long. Flowers 5-merous; calyx c. 1 mm long, dissected from c. ½ its length to almost to base, slightly hairy at base and slightly brown scurfy at apex; corolla c. 1.5 mm long, glabrous; ovary glabrous. Pods and seeds unknown.

Phenology

Flowers Aug.

Habitat

It occurs as relatively pure stands in shallow red soil surrounded by open eucalypt woodland.

Specimens

Qld: ‘Fairhill’, c. 70 km by road NE of Emerald, N.Hall 82/2 (NSW); c. 55 km SSE of Yalleroi, N.Hall 82/16 (NSW).

Notes

This species is probably related to A. umbellata and A. striatifolia but it has deeply lobed calyces and generally smaller phyllodes. It is a member of the ‘A. cheelii group’.

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