Common name: Whirrakee wattle
Acacia williamsonii Court APNI* Synonyms: Racosperma williamsonii (Court) Pedley APNI* Acacia hakeoides var. angustifolia (H.B.Will.) J.H.Willis APNI*
Description: Bushy shrub to 2 m high; branchlets angled, soon terete, glabrous, often pruinose.
Phyllodes ± linear to narrowly oblanceolate, slightly curved, mostly 3–6.5 cm long, 1.5–3 mm wide, often slightly glaucous, midvein not prominent, lateral veins absent, apex acute to obtuse usually with minute gland; 1 marginal gland 7–27 mm above pulvinus, often absent; pulvinus c. 1.5 mm long.
Inflorescences 4–8 in an axillary raceme; axis usually 1–3 cm long, usually drying dark reddish brown; peduncles 2–3 mm long, minutely appressed-hairy or glabrous; heads globose, 15–20-flowered, 3–5.5 mm diam., bright yellow.
Pods ± moniliform, 6–9 cm long, 3–3.5 mm wide, firmly papery to brittle, glabrous; seeds longitudinal, arilate.
Flowering: mainly August–October.
Distribution and occurrence: recorded from near Jerilderie growing on a grassland plain in grey cracking clay, and presumably introduced at Curraweena Station, 90 km north of Cobar (NWP), where it was collected from a rocky outcrop; occurs predominantly in Victoria where it is common in the Bendigo ‘Whipstick’.
NSW subdivisions: SWP, *NWP
Other Australian states: Vic.
Named after Herbert Bennett Williamson (1860-1931), the first Honorary Keeper of the Herbarium at the University of Melbourne.
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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