Acacia chisholmii

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Acacia chisholmii, known as Chisholm's wattle or turpentine bush, is a resinous Australian shrub in the pea family, Fabaceae. It grows mainly in western Queensland, where it is common around Mount Isa and Cloncurry. The Flora of Australia treatment also records a collection near Lake Nash in the Northern Territory.

Appearance

The shrub has many spreading stems and can reach four metres in height. Its narrow, upright phyllodes are flattened leaf-like structures, usually 1.5–5.5 cm long and 0.7–2 mm wide. They end in sharp points and have two conspicuous lengthwise veins.

Golden flowers form cylindrical spikes 13–28 mm long. The curved, leathery pods are more or less flat, with slight constrictions between their dark seeds. The flora records flowering from May to August.

Habitat and interactions

It occupies stony plains, escarpments and rolling country, often with shallow sandy soil. It occurs in grassland and eucalypt woodland with spinifex grasses. Insects can cause its flower clusters to develop into star-shaped or pincushion-like galls.

Queensland's regional ecosystem classification recognises open shrubland dominated by this species on lateritic scarps and plateau margins. In that community, other acacias or scattered eucalypts may occur above a ground layer dominated by Triodia grasses. The classification describes a particular vegetation community, rather than every habitat occupied by the species.