Page Eighteen 
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST 
May 9, 1950. 
head still has its own stalk or peduncle. 
In the second group, with five species, the 
flower heads are borne in axillary racemes. 
In this case the flower heads have a common 
stalk. This grows from the axil of a phyllode, 
one to each axil, and on it at intervals the 
flower heads are carried. 
The species of the first group — with pedun- 
culate flower heads — include one very vari- 
able species which complicates any form of 
key. The first things to look for here are 
the stipules, i.e., the two small outgrowths 
found where the leaf stalk joins the stem. 
If these are spiny the species may be either 
Acacia armata (Kangaroo Thorn, or Prickly 
Acacia), or one of the forms of Acacia Vic- 
toriae. The distinction between these two 
is not altogether easy unless the pods are 
present. The seeds of Acacia armata are 
longitudinal, that is, they lie with their 
greatest length parallel to the length of the 
pod. Those of Acacia Victoriae are trans- 
verse, that is, they lie across the pod, perpen- 
dicular to its length. 
In the absence of the pods the Kangaroo 
Thorn may be distinguished by its smaller 
phyllodes, which are never more than about 
one centimetre long, while those of Acacia 
Victoriae are not less than two cms. in length. 
In practice, however, it is a general rule 
that Acacia armata occurs in the ranges, and 
about and to the south of Adelaide, while 
Acacia Victoriae prefers hilly coastal coun- 
try and occurs mostly north of Adelaide. 
Acacia Victoriae is also called Prickly Acacia. 
If the stipules are not spiny, Acacia armata 
is ruled out. If in addition the phyllodes 
are round, rather like distorted circles, with 
a definite pointy tip, and are divided into 
two obviously uneven parts by the vein, the 
species is Acacia obliqua. Acacia oblique 
is a small shrub, seldom more than two to 
three feet high, but it is very striking when 
in flower. 
If, however, in addition to non-spiny 
stipules, the phyllodes are long and more 
or less lance-shaped, the species may be 
Acacia dodbnaeifolia or another of the forms 
of Acacia Victoriae. The former is readily 
distinguished by its viscid (sticky) phyllodes. 
The second group — with flower heads in 
racemes — also present some classification 
difficulty, which is based, a little precariously, 
on the form of the phyllodes. 
Acacia my rti folia (Bitter Leaf) is readily 
confused with Acacia ligulata, the only other 
bushy member of this group. 
Of the remaining four species, two have 
narrow phyllodes ( narrow'-linear) and two 
have thick, relatively broad, phyllodes. 
Those with narrow 7 phyllodes, Acacia 
distinguishable from the others of the group 
by its obovate phyllodes, and red stems. It 
is a bushy wattle, and is not likely to be 
rhetinodes (Swamp Wattle or Wirilda) and 
Acacia ligulata ( Umbrella Bush) are best 
distinguished by colour of flowers and length 
of phyllodes if pods are not present. The 
Swamp Wattle has rather pale yellow flowers, 
and long, often pendulous, phyllodes. The 
Umbrella Bush has bright yellow flowers, 
and rather shorter, more erect, phyllodes (see 
key). When podes are available the two 
are readily distinguishable, firstly because the 
pod of Umbrella Bush is moniliform, i.e. con- 
stricted between the seeds with a consequent 
wavy edge, wffiile that of Swamp Wattle is 
straight-edged; and secondly because the 
seed stalk of Swamp Wattle is folded twice 
AROUND the seed, while that of Umbrella 
Bush is folded UNDER, but not around, the 
seed. Lastly, the Sw r amp Wattle occurs in 
the wetter areas of the hills, particularly in 
swampy places and along creeks and shady 
valleys, while Umbrella Bush is a denizen 
of the drier and less fertile parts. The latter 
is very variable in both form and phyllode. 
The two species with large, thick, and 
relatively wide phyllodes are Acacia notabilis 
and Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle). I 
have not seen the former in the Adelaide 
Hills area, and it is apparently uncommon 
so far south. It occurs more plentifully 
in the Flinders Ranges, from Wirrabara 
northward to at least as far as the Angori- 
china area. In the Wirrabara area it is very 
glaucous on both stem and branches. 
The Golden Wattle is widespread and well 
known. As a young tree its enormous phyl- 
lodes attract immediate attention, especially 
after bush fires, when the seedlings spring up 
very thickly. The mature phyllodes are not 
so large, less broad, and mostly sickle-shaped. 
They have a marginal vein, generally in a 
little from the leaf margin, but it may be 
along the edge. 
The mature phyllodes of Acacia notabilis. 
however, are but little curved, and the mar- 
