Common name: drooping wattle
Acacia difformis R.T.Baker APNI* Synonyms: Racosperma difforme (R.T.Baker) Pedley APNI*
Description: Erect or spreading tree or shrub 1–6 m high; branchlets angled or flattened, glabrous.
Phyllodes oblanceolate, sometimes narrowly elliptic to linear, subfalcate or sometimes straight or falcate, 6–16 cm long, 4–25 mm wide, glabrous, green or subglaucous, midvein prominent, a less prominent longitudinal vein close to upper margin, finely penniveined, apex subacute to obtuse, base sometimes asymmetric; 1 or 2 glands along margin, the lowermost 5–30 mm above pulvinus and sometimes touching the uppermost longitudinal vein or connected to it by a fine oblique vein; pulvinus 1.5–4 mm long.
Inflorescences 3–19 in an axillary raceme, or sometimes in a terminal panicle; axis 1–7 cm long; peduncles 3–6 mm long, glabrous; heads globose, 15–35-flowered, 3.5–5 mm diam., yellow.
Pods straight or curved, rounded over seeds, ± moniliform, 5–15 cm long, 4–6 mm wide, thinly leathery to firmly papery and brittle, glabrous, often ± pruinose; seeds longitudinal; funicle filiform.
Flowering: usually December and January; also recorded March, April, July, October, November.
Distribution and occurrence: south from the Binnaway district, west from near Glen Alice. Grows in dry sclerophyll forest, woodland and mallee, often in red sandy soils, but also in clay soils.
NSW subdivisions: CT, NWS, CWS, SWS, SWP
Other Australian states: Vic.
The name refers to the unusual venation (two longitudinal veins) of the phyllodes. It suckers freely and may form dense stands, but is not particularly common over its range.
Text by P.G. Kodela
Taxon concept: P.G. Kodela & G.J. Harden, Flora of NSW Vol. 2 (2002)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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