108 
The Queensland Naturalist May 1945 
wattle is examined the leaves will be seen to consist of 
two distinct parts: (1) a flattened leaf-stalk or petiole and 
(2) a bipinnate leaf-blade or lamina. As the plant 
develops these latter are shed and in older plants they 
may not be developed at all. Some species, however, 
retain them much longer than others and many carry 
them even when quite large plants. It has even been 
reported that in one species that is typically phyllodineous 
odd adult trees have been noticed composed entirely or 
almost entirely of all pinnate foliage. 
An Acacia phyllode is not a true phyllode as under- 
stood in the average botanical textbook; that is, it is not 
composed entirely of the leaf-stalk or petiole but of the 
leaf-stalk and raehis of the bi-pinnate leaf. This can be 
seen in some trees such as Maiden’s Wattle ( Acacia 
Maidenii) and the Broad-leaved Sally Wattle (Acacia 
implexa) where transitions from the fully bipinnate to 
partially bipinnate and totally phyllodineous may be seen 
on the same young trees. These two species carry this type 
of foliage frequently when quite large, say 6 or 8 ft. high 
or more, and the shoots which bear these miscellaneous 
collections of leaf-types are known as reversion shoots. 
On this basis two groups have been defined as follows: 
1. Phyllodineae. 
2. Bipmnatae. 
The first is by far the greater in Australia and the 
group is in fact almost entirely Australian. A few 
Northern Australian species are found in New Guinea and 
one extends westwards and northwards to the Malay 
Archipelago. A few species are found in New Caledonia 
and the New Hebrides, and another — Acacia Koa — in the 
Hawaiian Islands. This last is the source of the famous 
Koa wood used in the manufacture of the best Hawaiian 
guitars of native workmanship. These Pacific Island 
species do not occur in Australia. 
What is usually regarded as the flower of the wattle 
is in reality a number of very minute flowers which may 
be gathered together in small balls or heads, as in the 
Queensland Silver Wattle, or into finger-like spikes, as in 
the Brisbane Black Wattle. Each individual flower though 
very small is perfectly formed with sepals, petals and 
other parts complete. The fluffy nature is due to the great 
number of protruding stamens carrying a large quantity 
of pollen. 
