Acacia burkittii

Acacia burkittii is a species of wattle endemic to Western Australia 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. It is common in southwestern regions of Western Australia and extends east over towards South Australia. It has also been introduced into India. Previously this species was referred to as Acacia acuminata subsp. burkittii, but is now considered to be a separate species.^[1] Grows in mallee, eucalypt and mulga woodland or shrubland, often on sandhills.^[2]

Description

Erect or spreading shrub 1–4 m high or sometimes taller; bark finely fissured, dark brown; branchlets terete, glabrous.

Phyllodes straight or curved, terete or subterete, 5–16 cm long, 0.5–1.3 mm wide, obscurely multistriate, usually finely hairy along margins especially towards curved, acute apex; glands absent or 1 inconspicuous gland at base; pulvinus 2–3 mm long.

Inflorescences 2 or 3 in axil of phyllodes; heads ± ovoid or cylindrical, 0.5–1.5 cm long, bright yellow, usually sessile or with peduncles 1–3 mm long. Flowers mostly 4-merous; calyx dissected by 1/2 or more, the lobes usually narrow, with rounded obtuse apices (i.e. ± spathulate).

Pods slightly curved, moniliform, 5–12 cm long, 5–7 mm wide, papery, glabrous; seeds longitudinal; funicle expanded towards seed.

Flowers from July to October.

Alkaloids

DMT in bark (0.2-1.2%), 0.1% alkaloids from leaves (mostly NMT);^[3] 1.5% alkaloids from leaves and stems, mostly tryptamine ^[4]

References