Species profile—Acacia wardellii
Classification
Plantae (plants) → Equisetopsida (land plants) → Leguminosae → Acacia wardellii
Sighting data
Species details
- Kingdom
- Plantae (plants)
- Class
- Equisetopsida (land plants)
- Family
- Leguminosae
- Scientific name
- Acacia wardellii Tindale
- WildNet taxon ID
- 11533
- Alternate name(s)
- Thomby Range wattle
- Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) status
- Near threatened
- Conservation significant
- Yes
- Confidential
- No
- Endemicity
- Native
- Pest status
- Nil
- Short Notes
- dup-Gordon 3039-Isotype, not found May 1997
- Description
- Acacia wardellii is a slender shrub or tree growing 5 to 7 m high, with smooth slivery-grey or white bark. The branchlets are often pruinose and glabrous. The phyllodes are glabrous, narrowly elliptic, sickle-shaped, 10 to 17. 5 cm long by 1.5 to 3 cm wide and narrowed at the base. There are two prominent veins more or less running together and often contiguous with the lower margin at the base. There is often a lesser third nerve also present. At or near the distal end of the pulvinus there is an elongate gland, with one to three prominent glands also often present on triangular projections from the phyllode margin. The inflorescences are racemose, with racemes 1 to 4.5 cm long and the peduncles 3 to 6 mm long bearing globular, 20 to 35 flowered, pale yellow heads. The pods are up to 12 cm long by 4.5 to 6 mm wide, coriaceous and glabrous. The seeds are 5 to 6 mm long, oblong to elliptic, slightly shiny, black, with a funicle that encircles three quarters of the seed (Tindale, 1970; Pedley, 1978; Maslin, 2001).
Acacia wardellii is related to A. binervata, the latter which is distinguished most readily by its brown to grey bark, non-pruinose branchlets, a solitary gland which is further from the pulvinus and never of a triangular projection of the margin, and broader pods. A. wardellii also resembles A. bancroftiorum, especially in habit, and they both have large reticulate-nerved phyllodes with glands often on triangular projections, and seeds with encircling funicles. A. bancroftiorum is distinguished by its 1-nerved phyllodes (Lithgow 1997; Maslin, 2001). - Map
- View Map
- Distribution
- Acacia wardellii is known from south of Roma, south-west of Chinchilla and the Thomby Range in south-east Queensland (Maslin, 2001). In the Thomby Range, the species has been collected near Rocky Glen Homestead, Glenmore in the Silver Springs Gas Field, and in an area ranging from 15 km east-north-east to 15 km east-south-east of Condamine. It has also been collected 16 km west of Inniscraig Homestead south of Roma, near Binjour south-east of Eidsvold and Rockwood Station, 36 km south-west of Chinchilla. Collecting notes indicate that the species was widespread in Condamine State Forest in 2001, with 10 to 20 plants observed at the collection site. At Glenmore in 1998, A. wardellii was scattered throughout the site, particularly in disturbed areas. The species was rare when collected near Binjour in 1997 (Queensland Herbarium, 2011). In recent years, numbers have decreased in known populations (DSEWPC, 2008).
- Distributional limits
- -25.4150834, 148.6979675
-27.6734279, 151.4805227 - Range derivation
- Range derived from extent of the taxon's verified records
- Habitat
- Acacia wardellii grows in gravelly soil on shallow weathered sandstone in eucalypt woodland (Pedley, 1978) and has been recorded from disturbed and recently burnt areas (Queensland Herbarium, 2011). The species has been described from tall open forest with Corymbia trachyphloia, C. intermedia, Eucalyptus major, E. cloeziana with a sparse Allocasuarina torulosa shrub layer. Within the Condamine SF, the species grows on roadside in disturbed E. decorticans woodland. Other collections have come from E. crebra with a subcanopy layer of tall Acacia spp. and a lower shrub layer (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Behaviour
- There is evidence to suggest the species resprouts following fire and/or disturbance (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Reproduction
- Little is known on the biology and ecology of A. wardellii. Flowering occurs from February to May, although there is also a record of flowering in July (Queensland Herbarium, 2011) mid-September (Tindale, 1970), and January (Queensland Herbarium, 2011).
- Threatening processes
- There are no populations of the species protected within national parks or reserves therefore potential threatening processes include destruction of habitat, disturbance of habitat by timber harvesting/ development, inappropriate grazing regime and inappropriate fire regimes (DEWHA, 2008).
- Status notes
- Acacia wardellii is listed as Vulnerable under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992
- Management documents
- Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) (2008). Acacia wardellii in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra.
- Management recommendations
- Regional and local priority actions for the recovery and protection of A. wardellii and its habitat have been identified by DSEWPC (2008). Actions are identified within five categories which include avoiding habitat loss, disturbance and modification (e.g. monitor known populations and identify key threats); minimising trampling, browsing or grazing (e.g. manage known sites to ensure appropriate stock grazing regimes); managing fire (develop and implement suitable fire management strategy); increasing conservation awareness (e.g. raise awareness in the local community); enabling recovery of additional sites and/or populations (e.g. undertake appropriate seed collection and storage).
- Notes
- Occurs in the following Queensland pastoral districts: Burnett, Darling Downs, Maranoa (Bostock and Holland, 2010).
This species occurs within the Border Rivers Maranoa-Balonne, Condamine and Burnett Mary (Queensland) Natural Resource Management Regions.
The species was previously listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act 1999. - References
- Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPC) (2008). Acacia wardellii in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Accessed 11/10/2011. http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat.
Lithgow, G. (1997). Sixty Wattles of the Chinchilla and Murilla Shires, M.G. Lithgow, Chinchilla, Queensland.
Maslin, B.R. (1999). Acacia wardellii. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Accessed 21/06/2012. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/flora/main/index.html.
Maslin, B.R. (2001). Wattle - Acacias of Australia.
Pedley, L. (1978). A revision of Acacia Mill. In Queensland. Austrobaileya 1 (2): 216-217.
Pedley, L. (1987). Racosperma Martius (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) in Queensland: a checklist. Austrobaileya 2 (4): 357.
Pedley, L. in Stanley, T.D. and Ross, E.M. (1983). Flora of South-eastern Queensland 1: 369.
Queensland Herbarium (2011). Specimen label information. Queensland Herbarium. Accessed 26/10/2011.
Tindale, M.D. (1970). Notes on Australian taxa of Acacia No. 2. Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium 4 (3): 139. - Profile author
- Lynise Wearne (21/06/2012)
Other resources
Data source
This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=11533.
This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
