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Acacia leptoclada A.Cunn. ex Benth.
Family Fabaceae
Subfamily Mimosoideae
Common name: sharp feather wattle

Acacia leptoclada A.Cunn. ex Benth. APNI*

Description: Spreading, often spindly shrub 1–3 m high, the branches sometimes weeping; bark smooth, grey or brown; branchlets terete, glabrous or softly hairy, usually ± pruinose.

Leaves mostly sessile on pulvinus; rachis 0.1–1.2 cm long, glabrous or hairy, jugary glands present irregularly with 1 small circular gland common (sometimes absent) at basal pair of pinnae and often at apex (sometimes minute twinned glands at apex), interjugary glands absent; pinnae 1–5 pairs, 0.3–1.2 cm long; pinnules 5–13 pairs, ± oblong to narrowly oblong, 1.5–4 mm long, 0.4–1 mm wide, glabrous or mainly ciliate.

Inflorescences 2–12 in an axillary raceme (axis to 8.5 cm long and usually zigzagged), and often some single heads on peduncles in leaf axils; peduncles mostly 3–10 mm long, glabrous or finely hairy; heads globose, 30–45-flowered, 7–12 mm diam., bright or dark yellow; young heads in bud usually ± pruinose.

Pods straight to slightly curved, ± flat except raised over seeds, straight-sided or barely constricted between seeds, 1.5–9.5 cm long, 5–9 mm wide, thinly or thickly leathery, densely hairy (the hairs often reddish or fawn) to glabrous; seeds oblique to longitudinal; funicle filiform.


Illustration
R.A.G.

Habit
Photo T.M. Tame

Flower
Photo T.M. Tame

Herbarium
Sheet

Herbarium
Sheet

Flowering: August–October.

Distribution and occurrence: Yetman and Warialda area south to Barraba to Guyra district.

Grows in dry sclerophyll forest, in sandy, granitic and serpentinite soils.
NSW subdivisions: NT, NWS
AVH map***

The name refers to the slender branchlets of the species. Variable, with hairy and glabrous forms. A variable species, especially in indumentum, from having variably hairy branchlets, rachis, pinnae, pinnules, flower-heads and pods to being glabrous. In hairy forms there are long hairs in the flower-heads (mainly towards calyx apices and on bracteole lamina) which are initially very conspicuous and pinkish purple when in bud (appearing to change colour with age and when dried in specimens to fawn- or yellowish-hyaline).

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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