Nuytsia 7(2); 221-228(1990) 
221 
Acacia Miscellany 4. Three new Western Australian species 
with affinities to A. wilhelmiana (Leguminosae:Mimosoideae: Section 
Plurinerves ) from Western Australia. 
B.R. Maslin 
Western Australian Herbarium, Department of Conservation and Land Management, 
P.O. Box 104, Como, Western Australia 6152 
Abstract 
B.R. Maslin, Acacia Miscellany — 4. Three new Western Australian species with affinities to A. wilhelmiana 
(Leguminosae:Mimosoideae: Section Plurinerves) from Western Australia.. Nuytsia 7(2): 221-228 (1990). Descriptions are 
provided for three new Western Australian species of Acacia, namely, A. ascendens, A. brachypoda and A. cowaniana. 
These species, together with seven close relatives, are referred to the informal " A . wilhelmiana group". A key is presented to 
the ten species of this group. 
Introduction 
The main purpose of this paper is to describe three new Western Australian species for 
inclusion in the forthcoming Acacia volume of Flora of Australia. These species, together with 
seven close relatives, are here referred to informally as the "Acacia wilhelmiana group'. The 10 
species assigned to this group are: A. abrupta Maiden & Blakely, A. ascendens Maslin sp. nov., 
A barattensis J. Black, A. brachypoda Maslin sp. nov., A. cowaniana Maslin sp. nov., A. gracilifolia 
Maiden & Blakely, A. helmsiana Maiden, A. menzelii J. Black, A. viscifolia Maiden & Blakely and 
A. wilhelmiana F. Muell. 
Most species of the "A. wilhelmiana group" occur in the semi-arid areas of south-west Western 
Australia and south-east South Australia. However, A. wilhelmiana ranges from South Australia 
into Victoria and New South Wales. Also, A. abrupta and A. helmsiana occur in the Arid Zone of 
Western Australia and Northern Territory, with the latter species extending to South Australia. 
Distributions for the above species, except the three new ones, are shown in Maslin & Pedley 
(1982). 
Species of the "A. wilhelmiana group" are shrubs or small trees which share most or all of the 
following characters: (1) plants resinous and/or viscid to some degree; (2) phyllodes excentrically 
mucronulate, often incurved, longitudinal nerves distant and commonly obscure, lateral nerves 
