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Australian Systematic Botany Australian Systematic Botany Society
Taxonomy, biogeography and evolution of plants
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Morphological and genetic variation within the widespread species Acacia victoriae (Mimosaceae)

Siti R. Ariati A C , Daniel J. Murphy B , Stuart Gardner A and Pauline Y. Ladiges A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. 3010, Australia.

B National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, Birdwood Ave, South Yarra, Vic. 3141, Australia.

C Present address: Centre for Plant Conservation, Bogor Botanic Gardens – LIPI Jl. Ir. H. Juanda 13, Bogor 16122, Indonesia.

D Corresponding author. Email: p.ladiges@unimelb.edu.au

Australian Systematic Botany 20(1) 54-62 https://doi.org/10.1071/SB06026
Submitted: 11 August 2006  Accepted: 10 October 2006   Published: 26 February 2007

Abstract

Morphological variation in Acacia victoriae, a species widespread in arid and semi-arid regions of Australia, was analysed by phenetic methods of classification and ordination. Three morphological groups were identified on the basis of phyllode characters and are treated as subspecies. Populations with short, elliptic and tomentose phyllodes are confirmed as A. victoriae subsp. arida Pedley; this form occurs mainly in central Australia. Populations with linear to oblong, non-tomentose phyllodes are referred to subsp. victoriae; this subspecies is the most variable and widely distributed across Australia. Populations with very long, narrow phyllodes, distributed in northern Australia from the Kimberley to Queensland, are described as fasciaria subsp. nov. A small number of non-tomentose specimens with broad elliptic phyllodes from central Australia require further assessment. Thirteen accessions previously sequenced for internal spacer regions and external spacer regions of ribosomal nuclear DNA showed genetic divergence. Six accessions of subsp. fasciaria formed a clade in a parsimony analysis, confirming that the long phyllode form is genetically distinct.


Acknowledgements

We thank Bruce Maslin for assistance with fieldwork in WA and Neville Walsh for the Latin diagnosis and critical reading of the manuscript. SA received financial support from the Australian Development Scholarship, The Hanjorg Eichler Research Fund and the School of Botany Foundation. This project was part of an ARC Linkage grant awarded to PL.


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* *Specimens with broad elliptic to oblanceolate phyllodes, 14–30 (mean 19) mm wide are tentatively assigned to subsp. victoriae and require further study.