Acacia fleckeri

Family

Mimosaceae

Botanical Name

Acacia fleckeri Pedley

Pedley, L. (1978) Austrobaileya 1: 211. Type: Queensland, Pascoe River crossing, Iron Range - Wenlock Rd, July,1948, Brass 19664; holo: BRI; iso: K.

Synonyms

Racosperma fleckeri (Pedley) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2(4): 348(1987), Type: ?.

Common name

Wattle

Stem

Usually grows into a small tree. Bark sometimes somewhat corky.

Leaves

Leaves phyllodineous. Leaf blades about 9-14.5 x 2-3 cm, petioles sometimes very short or up to 4-7 mm long often transversely wrinkled. Venation longitudinally parallel with about 4-7 veins more prominent than the rest. Gland sometimes visible on the edge of the leaf blade very close to the base close to the junction with the petiole. Stipules small and inconspicuous. Leafy twigs usually marked by pale-coloured lenticels.

Flowers

Heads globular, about 8-9 mm diam., produced in clusters, up to 4 per leaf axil. Corolla tube about 0.8-1 mm long, lobes about 0.6 mm long. Staminal filaments about 3 mm long. Ovary about 0.7 mm long, style about 4 mm long. Ovules 6-8 per ovary.

Fruit

Pods about 8-11 x 0.6-1 cm, more or less flat but raised or inflated over the seeds, margins thickened. Seeds flattened, about 4-5 x 3-4.5 mm, 7 or 8 per pod, pleurogram ovate. Funicle brown, about 19 mm long, encircling the seed. Cotyledons rather thick, about 4 x 3-4 mm. Radicle about 2 mm long.

Seedlings

Cotyledons broadly and shortly elliptic, about 6 x 4 mm, thick and fleshy, base of the cotyledons attached to the stem in such a way that the base of the cotyledon is obscured so that the cotyledons appear cordate. First leaf pinnate with 4 leaflets, leaflets 3-veined, falcate, asymmetrical and +/- obovate-elliptic. Second leaf bipinnate with one pair of secondary compound leaf axes each bearing 4 leaflets. Stipules recurved, about 2 mm long. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade falcate to oblong, apex obliquely mucronate, base cuneate. Margin with one gland near the junction with the petiole. Leaf blade 3-veined with a midrib and two longitudinal veins. Other veins much less conspicuous. Petiole transversely wrinkled. Stipules triangular, about 0.8 mm long. Stems zig-zagged and flattened.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in CYP and NEQ. Altitudinal range from near sea level to 100 m. Often grows in riparian forest but also found in monsoon forest, vine thickets and open forest.