Acacia nanodealbata

Acacia nanodealbata
Near Romsey in the Macedon Ranges
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Acacia
Species:
A. nanodealbata
Binomial name
Acacia nanodealbata
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms

Racosperma nanodealbatum (J.H.Willis) Pedley

Acacia nanodealbata, known colloquially as dwarf silver-wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, and is endemic to Victoria, Australia. It is a tree with smooth, silvery or grey bark, ridged, glabrous, purplish black or reddish brown branchlets, bipinnate leaves, spherical heads of golden yellow flowers arranged in racemes, and thinly leathery, purplish blue or reddish brown pods, irregularly constricted between the seeds.

Description

Acacia nanodealbata is a tree that typically grows to a height of 2–6 m (6 ft 7 in – 19 ft 8 in) and has smooth, silvery or grey bark, and terete, glabrous branchlets angled towards the outer end, occasionally with purplish black or reddish brown hairs pressed against the surface. The leaves are bipinnate on a rachis 20–115 mm (0.79–4.53 in) long on a petiole 5–16 mm (0.20–0.63 in) long, with 6 to 26 pinna mostly 10–30 mm (0.39–1.18 in) long, the lower pinnae smaller. Each pinna has 9 to 34 pairs of closely spaced, narrowly oblong to oblong pinnules 1–2.5 mm (0.039–0.098 in) long and 0.4–0.8 mm (0.016–0.031 in) wide. The flowers are borne in spherical heads in racemes in leaf axils or in panicles on the ends of branchlets, each head with usually 12 to 20 golden yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from August to October, and the pods are 30–85 mm (1.2–3.3 in) long, 9–20 mm (0.35–0.79 in) wide, purplish blue or reddish brown, thinly leathery and straight-sided to irregularly constricted between the seeds.

This species differs from Acacia dealbata in having crowded, almost glabrous pinnules that are less than 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long and the overall aspect of the tree is generally greener than A. dealbata.

Taxonomy

Acacia nanodealbata was first formally described in 1957 by James Hamlyn Willis in The Victorian Naturalist from specimens collected on Poley Hill in a reserve about 10 mi (16 km) north-east of Warburton in 1954. The specific epithet (nanodealbata) means 'dwarf dealbata', but it is rarely of the 'dwarf' habit and often of similar stature to A. dealbata.

Distribution and habitat

Dwarf silver-wattle usually grows in large stands in subalpine eucalypt forest or in tall open forest in the central highlands from the Healesville–Warburton area, the top of Mount Macedon and the Otway Range further south.

Conservation status

Acacia nanodealbata is listed as 'Vulnerable' under the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act.

References

  1. 1 2 "Acacia nanodealbata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  2. 1 2 Kodela, Phillip G.; Tindale, Mary D. Kodela, Phillip G. (ed.). "Acacia nanodealbata". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  3. 1 2 Willis, James Hamlyn (1957). "Vascular flora of Victoria and South Australia (sundry new species, varieties, combinations, records and synonymies)". The Victorian Naturalist. 73: 154–155. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  4. ↑ Tindale, Mary D.; Kodela, Phillip G. Maslin, Bruce R.; Reid, Jorden E. (eds.). "Acacia nanodealbata". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Entwisle, Timothy J.; Maslin, Bruce R.; Cowan, Richard S.; Court, Arthur B. "Acacia nanodealbata". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  6. ↑ "Acacia nanodealbata". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 3 November 2026.