Acacia rivalis J.M.Black
| Family Fabaceae
Subfamily Mimosoideae
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Common name: silver wattle
Acacia rivalis J.M.Black APNI* Synonyms: Racosperma rivale (J.M.Black) Pedley APNI*
Description: Erect or spreading shrub or tree 2–5 m high; bark finely fissured, grey; branchlets angled or flattened, sparsely hairy or glabrous.
Phyllodes very narrow-elliptic to ± linear, straight or slightly curved, 4–14 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, glabrous, midvein prominent, finely penniveined, apex acute with a mucro; 1 gland 15–40 mm above pulvinus; pulvinus 1–3 mm long.
Inflorescences usually 4–12 in an axillary raceme; axis 1.5–4 cm long, or rarely 1 in axil of some phyllodes; peduncles 4–12 mm long, minutely appressed-hairy; heads globose, 30–45-flowered, 4–5 mm diam., bright yellow.
Pods ± straight to twisted, ± moniliform, 6–13 cm long, 4–5 mm wide, thinly leathery to brittle, ± glabrous; seeds longitudinal; funicle reddish, folded and partly encircling seed.
Flowering: May–November.
Distribution and occurrence: recorded only from Broken Hill district; rare. Grows in River Red Gum communities bordering ephemeral streams.
NSW subdivisions: NFWP
Other Australian states: S.A.
Threatened species: NSW BCA: Endangered
Similar to Acacia calamifolia which has more curved phyllode apices, the gland further from the base and the peduncles not mealy. The name refers to the tendency of the species to often occur near creeks. There is a possibility that the species did not occur naturally in New South Wales but has become naturalised in a restricted area near Broken Hill. During the early 1900s at Blinman, South Australia, the gum was harvested for the food industry.
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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