Acacia ulicifolia

Prickly Moses at Carwoola, NSW

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Identification history

Acacia ulicifolia	24 Aug 2019	BettyDonWood
Acacia ulicifolia	24 Aug 2019	BettyDonWood
Acacia genistifolia	24 Aug 2019	KumikoCallaway

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9 comments

KenT wrote:

24 Aug 2019

I think I can see spicules at the base of some phyllodes which would make this Acacia ulicifolia, caveat being the image resolution seems too low to be sure but that might be my eyes. Some other characteristics also seem to be a better fit to the illustrations in Terry Tame's Acacia book for Acacia ulicifolia.

BettyDonWood wrote:

24 Aug 2019

Careless of me. Thanks Ken. If you don’t care for apps, my key is at https://apps.lucidcentral.org/plants_se_nsw/text/intro/index.html
And has a few glitches fixed that the apps do not have yet.

KumikoCallaway wrote:

24 Aug 2019

Thank you, Ken and Betty. It was my mistake. Flowers were yellow and different from ones of Early Wattle which are creamy color. Also the leaves were shorter than the ones of Early Wattle. I did not think of this species before suggesting..., sorry!

KenT wrote:

24 Aug 2019

Thanks Betty I have now bookmarked the site with your key - I don't use IPADs or smartphones and the like. Hands are too shaky and the key bounce uncontrollable - fortunately modern cameras have image stabilization, tripod sockets and remote shutter release.

BettyDonWood wrote:

25 Aug 2019

Hi Kumiko. Unfortunately the range of ‘leaf’ length in the two species is completely overlapping, and genistifolia flower colour ranges from cream to bright yellow.
The diagnostics are that genistifolia ‘leaves’ are cylindrical or 4-angled, and taper abruptly to a sharp point, while ulicifolia ‘leaves’ are square or almost flattened in cross-section, and taper gently to a sharp point. And as Ken says, ulicifolia tends to keep its stipules, which are 1-2 mm long and genistifolia often loses its stipules, which are about 1 mm long, early.

KumikoCallaway wrote:

25 Aug 2019

Hi Betty
Thank you for the explanation. I would love to know the details in each species. Is there a good field guide you recommend? I have just walked in Wanniassa Hills NR and took photos of Prickly Moses (I believe). I will upload them.

BettyDonWood wrote:

25 Aug 2019

Naturally I think my key to Plants of South Eastern New South Wales available as an app of that name from Google Play Store and the Apple Store or on
line at the above link is good. I have kept technical terms to a minimum, and technical terms that are included in the glossary are highlighted and linked to the glossary. As well, I have tried to include the diagnostics for many species in the Notes for that species. Unfortunately when the number of species got above about 1500, I found that the platform crashed when I included a link to similar species, so that facility is not available.

KumikoCallaway wrote:

25 Aug 2019

Thank you, Betty. I think that my phone does not work well for it but will read online one.

Mike wrote:

25 Aug 2019

I used to think it was Acacia genistifolia north of Lake Burley Griffin and Acacia ulicifolia to the south. That might not work for the west of Canberra. However, A. genistifolia is now being planted south of the lake possibly because A. ulicifolia seed and seedlings are not readily available.

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