Acacia burkittii explained

Acacia burkittii is a species of wattle endemic to Western Australia, South Australia and western New South Wales, where it is found in arid zones,[1] and is a perennial shrub in the family Fabaceae. Common names for it include Burkitt's wattle, fine leaf jam, gunderbluey, pin bush and sandhill wattle.[1] It has also been introduced into India.[2] Previously this species was referred to as Acacia acuminata subsp. burkittii, but is now considered to be a separate species. It grows in mallee, eucalypt and mulga woodland or shrubland, often on sandhills.[3]

Description

Acacia burkitii is an erect or spreading shrub 1–4 m high or sometimes taller. The bark is finely fissured and dark brown. The branchlets are terete and glabrous.

The phyllodes are straight or curved, terete or subterete, 5–16 cm long and 0.5–1.3 mm wide. It is obscurely multistriate, usually finely hairy along the margins, especially towards the curved, acute apex. Glands are either absent or there is one inconspicuous gland at the base, with a pulvinus 2–3 mm long.

There are two or three Inflorescences in the axil of the phyllodes. The heads of the inflorescences are ovoid or cylindrical and 0.5–1.5 cm long. They are bright yellow, usually sessile or with peduncles 1–3 mm long. The flowers are mostly tetramerous, with the calyx dissected by 1/2 or more, and the lobes are usually narrow, with rounded obtuse apices (i.e., spathulate).

The pods are slightly curved, moniliform, 5–12 cm long and 5–7 mm wide. They are papery and glabrous. The seeds are longitudinal and the funicle is expanded towards the seed.

A. burkittii flowers from July to October.

Taxonomy

The description by Ferdinand von Mueller was published in George Bentham's Flora Australiensis in 1864 from a specimen, MEL 2078154, found near Lake Gilles in South Australia, by Burkitt.

Alkaloids

DMT in bark (0.2-1.2%), 0.1% alkaloids from leaves (mostly NMT);[4] 1.5% alkaloids from leaves and stems, mostly tryptamine[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Flora of Australia profile:Acacia burkittii. profiles.ala.org.au. 28 July 2019.
  2. Web site: Acacia burkittii . Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens Kew . 20 May 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221024093939/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:469894-1 . 24 October 2022 . live.
  3. Web site: Acacia burkittii. PlantNet. 2015. Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.
  4. Recent Net reports, Australian underground info
  5. White, E.P. 1957. “Evaluation of further legumes, mainly Lupinus and Acacia species for alkaloids.” New Zealand J. Sci. & Tech. 38B:718-725