152 
Differences between A. coriacea and A. stcnophylla. 
Mueller many years ago wrote : 
The evidence, derived from our material, is not quite conclusive for ascertaining whether A. coriacea 
should be reduced to A. ste<>i>li>/ll<t, as .seemingly necessary; the characters which separate it consist in 
the golden-yellow silky indument which clothes the young branches and phyllodia, in the still closer and 
more subtle nervature of the latter, in all peduncles of our specimens being geminate or solitary and in 
longer pods, which, however, in-our collection exhibit no matured seeds for comparison. 
(Plants Indigenous to the Colony of Victoria, Vol. 2, p. 26). Mueller overlooked 
the fact that A. coriacea is very much the older name. 
A. stenophyUa is a more glabrous plant than is A. coriacea. The vestiture on 
the shoots, phyllodes and buds is hoary in A. stenophylla, not golden pubescent as in 
A. coriacea. The pods of the species are very different, as can be seen from the 
plate. The funicle and arillus are different. There is a good deal of similarity in the 
inflorescence. 
It is singular that each species has a linear-leaved form. 
Botanical Name. Acacia, see Part XV, p. 104; coriacea, Latin leathery, 
in allusion to the tough phyllodes. 
Vernacular Name. I have not been able to trace a name applied to this 
Wattle except Wire wood (applied to the variety). I believe it really refers to the 
phyllodes, but have adopted it as not without claims to recognition. 
Aboriginal Name. I know of none. 
Timber. The only definite particulars I can find as to the wood are furnished 
by Mr. Cambage for the variety. " The wood, which is used for posts, is pale yellow 
near the outside, and dark brown towards the centre." 
Size. It varies from a diffuse shrub to a small tree. The largest size (30 feet) 
recorded is of trees in the north-west angle of New South Wales. 
Habitat. Some confusion has arisen through G. Don's statement, already 
quoted (I do not know if the mistake originated with De Candolle himself) that the 
type came from the eastern coast. As a matter of fact it came from the western coast. 
I will presently quote specimens from Shark's Bay to Cossack. 
Then it extends to the Northern Territory, but it has only been recorded, so far, 
from inland localities, and the same remarks apply to Queensland and New South Wales. 
I expect it will in future be recorded in coastal localities in the Northern Territory and 
Queensland say about the Gulf of Carpentaria. 
