Common name: ploughshare wattle
Acacia gunnii Benth. APNI* Synonyms: Acacia vomeriformis A.Cunn. ex Benth. APNI*
Racosperma gunnii (Benth.) Pedley APNI*
Acacia gunnii var. angustifolia Benth. APNI*
Description: Decumbent to erect shrub to 1 m high; branchlets ± terete, usually densely hairy with stiff hairs.
Phyllodes ± triangular, ± straight, 0.4–1 cm long, 1.5–5 mm wide, glabrous or finely hairy, midvein prominent, sometimes towards lower margin, apex pungent-pointed; 1 gland along margin, usually with a prominent gland-angle on upper margin; pulvinus < 0.5 mm long.
Inflorescences simple, 1 in axil of phyllodes; peduncles 4–15 mm long, hairy; heads globose, 20–30-flowered, 5–8 mm diam., cream-coloured to pale yellow or sometimes yellow.
Pods ± straight, raised over seeds, slightly or irregularly more deeply constricted between seeds, 2–4 cm long, 3–6 mm wide, firmly papery to thinly leathery, glabrous or sometimes hairy; seeds longitudinal; funicle filiform.
Flowering: usually July–October.
Distribution and occurrence: west to Parkes district. Grows in sclerophyll communities in various soil types.
NSW subdivisions: CC, SC, NT, CT, ST, NWS, CWS, SWS
Other Australian states: Vic. Qld Tas. S.A.
A very variable species with hairy and glabrous forms and different phyllode shapes; specimens with narrow phyllodes and much-reduced phyllode angles are difficult to distinguish from Acacia ulicifolia. Also similar to A. pravifolia which has more than 1 main vein. The species is named after Ronald Campbell Gunn (1808-1881), a prominent early Tasmanian botanist who collected the lectotype in Tasmania in the 1830s.
Text by P.G. Kodela (last updated June 2012)
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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