Acacia farinosa

Mealy wattle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Clade:	Mimosoid clade
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	A. farinosa
Binomial name
Acacia farinosa Lindl. [1]
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]
Racosperma farinosum(Lindl.) Pedley Acacia whaniiauct. non F.Muell. ex Benth.: Whibley, D.J.E. & Symon, D.E. (1992)

Habit in Gawler Ranges National Park

Acacia farinosa, commonly known as mealy wattle, ^[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a rounded shrub with terete, glabrous branchlets, oblanceolate to linear phyllodes, spherical heads of golden yellow flowers and linear, curved and twisted, crusty pods.

Description

Acacia farinosa is a rounded shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) and has glabrous, terete branchlets that have soft hairs pressed against the surface. Its phyllodes are ascending, oblanceolate to linear, mostly 20–70 mm (0.79–2.76 in) long, 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) wide, rigid, thick and more or less fleshy. There is a gland 2–9 mm (0.079–0.354 in) above the base of the phyllode. The flowers are borne in spherical heads on a peduncle 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long, each head 3.5–4 mm (0.14–0.16 in) in diameter with seven to seventeen golden yellow flowers. Flowering occurs from July to November, and the pods are linear, crusty, rigid, curved and twisted, up to 60 mm (2.4 in) long, 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) wide and glabrous. The seeds are elliptic, 3.5–4.0 mm (0.14–0.16 in) long and black with a small aril on the end. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Taxonomy

Acacia farinosa was first formally described in 1838 by English botanist John Lindley from material collected on Thomas Mitchell's expedition near Lake Charm, Victoria in 1836 and was published in Mitchell's Three Expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia . ^{[8] [9]} The specific epithet (farinosa) means 'covered with mealiness' or 'powdery', referring to the young stems and peduncles. ^[6]

Distribution and habitat

Mealy wattle mostly grows in sand or loam in shrubland and woodland, often with lerp mallee ( Eucalyptus incrassata ), in the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, on Kangaroo Island and south-eastern South Australia, and extending to western Victoria between Edenhope and Swan Hill. ^{[2] [3] [7]}

Use in horticulture

This species may be used as a groundcover in coastal areas. ^[7]

References

1. "Acacia farinosa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
2. Cowan, Richard S. "Acacia farinosa". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
3. Entwisle, Timothy J.; Maslin, Bruce R.; Cowan, Richard S.; Court, Arthur B. "Acacia farinosa". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
4. "Acacia farinosa". World Wide Wattle. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
5. Cowan, Richard S.; Maslin, Bruce R. "Acacia farinosa". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
6. "Acacia farinosa". Seeds of South Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
7. "Acacia farinosa". Electronic Flora of South Australia Fact Sheet. State Herbarium of South Australia. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
8. "Acacia farinosa". APNI. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
9. Lindley, John (1838). Mitchell, Thomas L. (ed.). Three expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia, with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. London: T. & W. Boone. p. 145. Retrieved 17 December 2025.