Acacia grasbyi Maiden, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 51: 251 (1917)
Minni Ritchie
Multistemmed or branching low to ground, flat-topped, resinous shrub or tree to 4 m high, 3–5 m wide. Bark ‘Minni Ritchi’, red-brown. Branchlets very slightly angular towards apices, soon terete, orange, grey or light brown, glabrous or puberulous between orange ridges, often papillose. Phyllodes erect, thickly filiform, straight or often curved towards base, terete or subterete, mostly 4–7 cm long, c. 1 mm wide, with coarsely pungent apex, rigid, finely multistriate, the veins translucent, puberulous, c. 10 per mm; gland 1, small, basal, to 3 mm above pulvinus. Spikes 0.8–3 cm long, golden. Flowers 5-merous (rarely 6-merous flowers amongst mostly 5-merous flowers on same spike); calyx 1.1–1.5 mm long, dissected for 1/5–1/2, pubescent; corolla 1.6–2.4 mm long, dissected for 1/3–1/2, with papillose margin; ovary glabrous or slightly hairy. Pods linear, slightly constricted between seeds, straight or falcate, 6–11 cm long, subwoody, at maturity transversely cracked, minutely puberulous; margins slightly thickened. Seeds longitudinal, rotund or orbicular, flattened, depressed towards centre, 6.5–9 mm long, brownish black; pleurogram raised, with narrow halo; areole open, c. 1–1.2 mm long, yellowish olive.
Occurs in arid W.A. especially in the Murchison district, N to the Gibson Desert and southwards to c. 64 km N of Leonora, with disjunct populations occurring in southern N.T. and northwest S.A. Grows on plains, granite mesas or undulating hills, in stony red sand or loam in Acacia scrub or shrubland. Flowers Mar.–Oct.
It differs from A. cyperophylla in its flat-topped habit, shorter phyllodes, very long peduncles and larger pods.
Type of accepted name
Cue–Milly’s Soak road, W.A., Oct. 1909, J.H.Maiden ; holo: NSW, PERTH (Fragment ex MEL).
Illustrations
B.R.Maslin, in J.Jessop (ed.), Fl. Centr. Australia 125, fig. 161B (1981); M.Simmons, Acacias Australia 1: 245 & pl. 6 (1987).
Representative collections
W.A.: Ejah, Mileura Stn, Upper Murchison, N.T.Burbidge 8071 & A.Kanis (CANB, NSW); 8.2 km SSE of Yalgoo, R.Coveny 7931 & B.R.Maslin (CANB, K, MEL, NSW, PERTH, US); Meekatharra, B.Maloney 73/28 (NSW); N of L. Disappointment, B.R.Maslin 2268 (NSW, PERTH). N.T.: 1 km SE of Kathleen Spring, P.K.Latz 8738 (CANB, NT, PERTH). S.A.: about 50 km S of Cheesman Peak, R.B.Major 33 (AD).
(NSW)
The information presented here originally appeared on the WATTLE CD-ROM which was jointly published by the Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, and the Department of Parks and Wildlife, Perth; it was produced by CSIRO Publishing from where it is available for purchase. The WATTLE custodians are thanked for allowing us to post this information here.
