Acacia purpureopetala F.M.Bailey

 ALA  NSL [legitimate]
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Bailey, F.M. (1905), Contributions to the Flora of Queensland. Queensland Agricultural Journal 15(6): 780

Nomenclature

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Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (2014), Australian Plant Census
 APC
 NSL
orthographic variant: Acacia purpureapetala F.M.Bailey
nomenclatural synonym: Racosperma purpureipetalum Pedley
nomenclatural synonym: Racosperma purpureopetalum (F.M.Bailey) Pedley
  Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (2014), Australian Plant Census
 APC
 NSL
orthographic variant: Acacia purpureapetala F.M.Bailey
nomenclatural synonym: Racosperma purpureipetalum Pedley
nomenclatural synonym: Racosperma purpureopetalum (F.M.Bailey) Pedley

Specimens

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Common Name

Purple Wattle, Purple-flowered Wattle.

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Description

Sprawling ± prostrate shrub to 0.6 m high; new growth purplish. Branchlets puberulous to pubescent. Stipules 2–3 mm long, normally recurved. Phyllodes slightly asymmetric, narrowly oblong-elliptic, sometimes oblanceolate, 15–35 mm long, 4–6 mm wide, l: w = 4–7, excentrically mucronate, with 0.5–2 mm long mucro, coriaceous, finely puberulous with hairs often confined to margins when old; midrib and margins prominent; lateral veins scarcely evident; gland 1–6 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; peduncles 7–15 mm long, puberulous, ebracteate at base, sometimes with a single bract above middle; heads globular, 15–20-flowered, mauve-pink. Flowers 5-merous; sepals ± free. Pods narrowly oblong to elliptic, to 30 mm long, 4–7 mm wide, normally 1–3-seeded, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous, brown, glabrous or subglabrous. Seeds longitudinal, circular to widely elliptic, compressed, 4–5 mm long, exarillate; funicle filiform.

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Diagnostic Features

Unique among the Australian acacias in having consistently mauve-pink flowers.

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Phenology

Flowers sporadically, though not prolifically, throughout most of the year but main flush in June–July.

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Biostatus

Native.

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Distribution

A rare species confined to the Herberton–Irvinebank region, north Queensland.

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Habitat

Grows on steep rocky slopes in Eucalyptus woodland; often colonises disused mine sites.

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Ecology

Acacia purpureopetala is a "small shrub with limited root development, sparse and diffuse flowering and seed set, and evidently limited capacity for seed dispersal" (Gleed & Franklin 2018: 57). Evidence suggests "that the species is an obligate seeder intolerant of frequent fire" (Gleed & Franklin 2018: 57). For notes on this species plant morphology, reproduction, population size, habitat, conservation status and threats see Gleed & Franklin (2018).

The distribution and extent of genomic diversity across the range of Acacia purpureopetala has been investigated by van der Merwe et al. (2021).

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Conservation Status

SPRAT profile: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=61156 [accessed December 2018]

Approved Conservation Advice: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/61156-conservation-advice.pdf

Listed as Critically Endangered - Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999 (Federal).

Listed as Vulnerable – Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Queensland).

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Representative Herbarium Specimens

Qld: near Irvinebank, J. Armstrong 1024 & D.F. Blaxell (BRI, CANB, NSW); Stannary Hills, P.D. Hind 1047 & C.K. Ingram (NSW, PERTH).

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Uses

Acacia purpureopetala features on an Australian $1.10 postage stamp as part a series of three 'Wattle Wonders' stamps issued 14 September 2021.

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Nomenclature and Typification

Acacia purpureopetala F.M.Bailey, Queensland Agricultural Journal 15(6): 780 (1905), as purpureapetala; Racosperma purpureopetalum (F.M.Bailey) Pedley, Austrobaileya 2(4): 354 (1987). Type: "Herberton, [Queensland], J. Stirling (No. 214), 1904"; holo: BRI; iso: K, NSW.

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Notes

Seemingly related to Acacia hispidula which has pale yellow to nearly white heads, ¾-united sepals and phyllodes that are obviously tuberculate, at least on their abaxial margins.

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Illustrations

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M. Simmons, Acacias of Australia 1: 101 & pl. 13 (1981); J.B. Hacker, A Guide to Herbaceous and Shrub Legumes of Queensland 50 (1990); B.R. Maslin, Flora of Australia 11A: 403, pl. 38 and 447, fig. 54F–H (2001); S.J. Gleed & D.C. Franklin, North Queensland Naturalist 48: 58, fig. 1; 61, figs 4–6; 62, figs 7 & 8; 66, fig. 9 (2018).

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Bibliography

Farrow R. (2015). The quest for the elusive Purple Acacia. Fronds 79: 4–5.

Gleed, S.J. & Franklin, D.C. (2018). Purple-flowered Wattle (Acacia purpureopetala): observations and surveys of a threatened plant found only in the Herberton–Irvinebank region. North Queensland Naturalist 48: 57–68. https://www.nqnat.org/volume-48

Maslin, B.R. (2001). Acacia purpureopetala, p. 449, in A.E. Orchard & A.J.G. Wilson (eds), Flora of Australia Volume 11A, Mimosaceae, Acacia part 1. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne).

Simmons, M. (1981). Acacias of Australia Volume 1. (Nelson: Melbourne).

van der Merwe, M.M. et al. (2021). All populations matter: Conservation genomics of Australia’s iconic Purple Wattle, Acacia purpureopetala. Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation of Native Plants, Diversity 13(4), 139; DOI 10.3390/d13040139

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Source

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Adapted from B.R. Maslin, Acacia purpureopetala, Flora of Australia 11A: 449 (2001). Updated by P.G. Kodela (December 2018).

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© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2024
Last updated: Unknown; Feb 29, 2024 12:35 Status: Legacy

Author - B.R. Maslin

Editor - P.G. Kodela

Contributor - B.R. Maslin (minor edit, June 2012); P.G. Kodela (ed. December 2018)

Acknowledgements -

Cite this profile as: B.R. Maslin. Acacia purpureopetala, in P.G. Kodela (ed.), Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Acacia%20purpureopetala [Date Accessed: 19 September 2025]