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Electronic Flora of South Australia species Fact Sheet

Family: Fabaceae
Acacia dodonaeifolia

Citation: C. Sprengel, Plant. Pugill. 2:92 (1815).

Derivation: dodonaea-name of a genus in the Sapindaceae; folium (Latin)--leaf.

Synonymy: Mimosa dodonaeifolia Pets., Syn. Pl. 2:261 (1806); A. viscosa Schrader. ex H.L. Wendl., Comment. Acac. t.7 (1820) nom. illegit., Acacia visciflua

Common name: Sticky wattle

Description:
Tall, viscid shrubs or small trees 2-6 m high, with short thin trunks and long ascending branches; branchlets angular, with somewhat resinous ridges or the entire branch covered with a blackish sooty substance.

Phyllodes lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 4-10 cm long, 4-10 mm broad, flat, punctate, quite viscid and sticky when young, becoming less viscid when mature; central vein prominent, sometimes with 2 additional fainter inter-marginal veins into which finer lateral veins run; apex acute, with a short straight or recurved point; glands small 1--4 scattered at various intervals along the upper margin.

Inflorescences axillary, mostly twin, sometimes on a very short common peduncle; flower-heads globular, bright yellow, 30-40-flowered; peduncles glabrous, viscid, 10-15 mm long; flowers 5-merous.

Legumes linear, straight or curved, 6-10 cm long, 5-6 mm broad, light brown, raised over the seeds; margins not constricted. Seeds longitudinal in legume, obloid-ovoid, dark brown, shiny; funicle short, folded under the cup-shaped aril.

Distribution:  Endemic to South Australia. The two main areas are Eyre Peninsula (southern part) and Southern Lofty regions. A minor occurrence on Yorke Peninsula (southern part), Kangaroo Island and a few scattered localities in the South-Eastern region, mainly in woodland open forest vegetation formation. Soils; hard acidic, yellow duplex, red shallow porous loamy, sandy alkaline yellow duplex. Rainfall 500-700 mm.

S.Aust.: EP, MU, YP, SL, KI, SE.

Conservation status: Lang & Kraehenbuehl (1987) and Briggs & Leigh (1988) both consider this species to be Uncommon to Rare.

Flowering time: July — November.


SA Distribution Map based
on current data relating to
specimens held in the
State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: No text

Related taxa: Acacia leprosa occurring in Vic. and N.S.W. has similar features and habit. Acacia verniciflua is very similar in habit and is difficult to distinguish, unless a closer examination is made to reveal its two prominent veins on its phyllodes. Acacia stricta has some similarities but differs in not being a resinous shrub and usually has more flowers in the phyllode axils on shorter peduncles. Possible hyhrids have been recorded between A. dodonaeifolia and A. paradoxa from southern Eyre Peninsula, see under this species for further details.

Taxonomic notes: The most common mistletoe on Acacia dodonaeifolia is Amyema preissii, wire-leaved mistletoe, with two records of Lysiana exocarpi, harlequin mistletoe.

Hybrids between A. dodonaeifolia and A. paradoxa occur almost wherever the distribution of the two species overlap.

Cultivation: A useful tall shrub for ornamental planting in higher rainfall areas throughout the southern districts. Has also been used as a hedge plant. Fast growth rate.

Author: Not yet available

Source:


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