Acacia midgleyi

Family

Mimosaceae

Botanical Name

Acacia midgleyi M.W.McDonald & Maslin

McDonald, M.W. & Maslin, B.R. (2000) Australian Systematic Botany 13: 61. Type: 15 km N of the Pascoe River on Portland Roads Rd, Qld, 16 Oct 1996, M. W. McDonald 2255 & P. A. Butcher (holo: PERTH; BRI, CANB, K, NSW).

Common name

Salwood, Cape York; Cape York Salwood

Stem

Living bark strong and fibrous when stripped.

Leaves

Leaves phyllodineous. Leaf blades falcate, about 6-10 x 0.4-1.1 cm. Venation longitudinally parallel with about 3-7 veins more prominent than the rest. Petioles about 0.3-0.5 cm long. A small but conspicuous gland usually visible at the junction of the leaf blade and the petiole.

Flowers

Spikes about 3-4 cm long, solitary or paired, produced in the leaf axils. Flowers yellow, about 1 mm diam, sparsely arranged on the spikes. Calyx and corolla glabrous. Stamens numerous. Anther filaments about 1 mm long. Ovary with white hairs or glandular projections towards the apex, style about 1.5 mm long.

Fruit

Fruits about 9 x 1.5 cm. Seeds about 13 per fruit. Seeds ellipsoid to obovoid, about 5 mm long, funicle grey, folded beneath the seed.

Seedlings

Cotyledons elliptic, about 7 x 4 mm, base sagittate or hastate. No venation visible. First leaf pinnate with 6 leaflets. Second leaf bipinnate with 8 leaflets. At the tenth leaf stage: 'leaf' falcate or elliptic, apex abruptly narrowed into a mucro, base attenuate, midrib raised on both surfaces. Venation longitudinal with 2 or 3 veins slightly thinner than the midrib extending from the base almost to the apex. A single flat gland usually visible on the upper margin of the leaf blade just above its junction with the petiole.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to Queensland, occurs in CYP and the northern part of NEQ. Altitudinal range from 150-600 m. Grows in gallery forest and well developed rain forest.