Acacia kingiana

General Plant Info

Acacia kingiana, was a 2-3 m high shrub, which flowered Aug to Sep. The flower-heads contained 30–40 densely packed yellow flowers. The flowers had five petals and two or three united sepals. The phyllodes were narrow, oblong to lance-like in shape, approximately 10 mm long and 2–3 mm wide. The pods of this species were never observed (ABRS 2007)

A member of the ‘ A. flavipila group’ related to Acacia flavipila which differs in having commonly two-headed racemes and smaller heads, free sepals and golden pubescence.

The species is now listed as Presumed Extinct (Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (Western Australia): September 2013)

The reasons for the decline and extinction of Acacia kingiana are unknown.

Geographic distribution

Acacia kingiana is known only from the type collection in an area north-east of Wagin, south-west Western Australia. The specimen was collected on 1 September 1923 (ABRS 2007; Western Australia Herbarium 2007).

Beard’s Provinces: South-West Province.

IBRA Regions: Avon Wheatbelt.

IBRA Subregions: Avon Wheatbelt P2.

Local Government Areas (LGAs): Wagin.

Identification

Bushy shrub 2–3 m high. Branchlets tomentose.

Phyllodes inequilaterally narrowly oblong to narrowly elliptic-oblanceolate, straight to shallowly recurved, c. 10 mm long, 2–3 mm wide, obtuse and excentrically mucronulate, coriaceous, with 2 or 3 distant, tomentulose main nerves and with raised, anastomosing secondary nerves.

Inflorescences 1-headed racemes; raceme axes 1.5–2 mm long, white-tomentulose; peduncles 3.5–4 mm long, tomentulose, with a basal, glabrous, round bract and an amorphous glandular mass opposite; heads globular, 4–4.5 mm diam., densely 30–40-flowered, presumably golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals c. 2/3-united.

Pods not seen.

Links

http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/3402

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=13816

http://www.worldwidewattle.com/speciesgallery/kingiana.php?id=3402