Acacia quadrilateralis DC.
| Family Fabaceae
Subfamily Mimosoideae
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Acacia quadrilateralis DC. APNI* Synonyms: Racosperma quadrilaterale (DC.) Pedley APNI*
Description: Erect or spreading shrub 0.5–3 m high; bark smooth, brownish; branchlets angled towards apices, glabrous.
Phyllodes sometimes crowded on short axillary shoots, ± straight to slightly curved, 4-angled or rhombic, 2.5–4 cm long, 0.5–1 mm wide, glabrous, minutely warty, 4-veined, apex pungent-pointed; glands absent; pulvinus to 1 mm long.
Inflorescences simple, 1 in axil of phyllodes; peduncles 6–15 mm long, glabrous; heads globose, 12–30-flowered, 4–7 mm diam., pale yellow to cream-coloured.
Pods straight to slightly curved, ± flat except slightly raised over seeds, regularly constricted between seeds (submoniliform), 4–9 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, firmly papery, glabrous; seeds longitudinal; funicle filiform.
Flowering: July–September.
Distribution and occurrence: mainly north from the Botany area (Sydney); probably extinct from the south Sydney region. Also occurs (recorded in 1997) in undisturbed coastal heath on a headland at Ulladulla (South Coast) where it possibly represents an outlier population of A. quadrilateralis as it appears to be native to the area (based on site details provided by the collector B. Wood, pers. comm., May 2014). Grows usually in dry sclerophyll forest and heath (including coastal heath), in sandy soil.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC
Other Australian states: Qld
The name refers to the ± tetragonus shape of the phyllode cross section.
Text by P.G. Kodela (updated May 2014)
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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