Acacia decora

Showy Wattle at Tuggeranong DC, ACT

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Identification history

	Acacia decora	8 Sep 2019	BettyDonWood
	Acacia decora	6 Sep 2019	KumikoCallaway

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7 comments

KumikoCallaway wrote:

7 Sep 2019

The other species I have in mind is A. buxifolia subsp. pubiflora which is not in the CNM species list (distribution map: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/wattle/images/entities/acacia_buxifolia_subsp._pubiflora/acacia_buxifolia_subsp__pubiflora_occurrence_map_aus.jpg).

A. buxifolia subsp. buxifolia is ruled out due to the number of flower heads (7-12 for buxifolia and 17-29 for pubiflora).

I read various websites to see which can be correct ID. The only thing I could find for the distinctive feature of A. buxifolia subsp. pubiflora to tell apart from A. decora is glabrous raceme axes and peduncles which I think this plant has.

BettyDonWood wrote:

7 Sep 2019

Acacia buxifolia subsp. pubiflora only occurs north of Dubbo, according to the sightings map on ALA, apart from two sightings, one Sydney and the other between Yass and Jugiong, which are almost certainly planted or a misID.

KumikoCallaway wrote:

8 Sep 2019

OK, thank you.

BettyDonWood wrote:

8 Sep 2019

The problem with planted plants is they could originate from anywhere. The diagnostics in Wattle (sourced from Flora of Australia)
http://worldwidewattle.com/imagegallery/image.php?p=0&l=d&id=20569&o=1
say that decora normally has golden appressed hairy raceme axes and peduncles. That does not quite rule out your plant. You will need a hand lens or a macro app on your phone or camera to check it. I presume that despite the colour I see for the phyllodes on my ipad, the phyllodes are grey-green rather than green. I have checked what I can of other parts of the species description in Plantnet, like the number of flowers per head and the number of flower heads per raceme, and they are OK for decora.
Further to buxifolia subsp. pubiflora. It is unlikely to be planted. Flora of Australia notes that pods are rarely seen.
I stick to the app Wattle2 for wattles, though Plantnet where it has been updated, has identical fact sheets, Flora of Australia, extremely difficult to find on the internet, so do not lose this bookmark https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/search, and Plantnet (in fact sheets that are still those scanned from Flora of NSW half the descriptions can only be found by working backwards through the key), and Vicflora, for references. For some of the weeds I occasionally go to overseas references.

KumikoCallaway wrote:

9 Sep 2019

Thank you for your comment and links. When I go back there, I will try to see appressed hairy raceme axes and peduncles.

julielindner wrote:

15 Sep 2019

Hi I went and had a look not sure if I got the right tree as I have an old GPS but what I saw was the same Acacias south of the Farrer Ridge underpass along Erindale Drive these were planted after road construction. Mike found one on Farrer Ridge underpass near Dookie Street to the north some time ago and we named it A. lunata (previously in the A.buxifolia complex).

BettyDonWood wrote:

15 Sep 2019

Acacia lunata flower heads are 3-5 flowered, so I don’t think this plant, with flower heads at least about 15 flowered, is lunata.

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