Acacia lineolata

Overview

The natural salt-soil evidence for Acacia lineolata applies specifically to the Western Australian subspecies subsp. lineolata. The salt-trial database entry concerns A. aff. lineolata, whose identity is unresolved; the two records are not merged as evidence from the same taxon. [S1, S4, S2, S3]

Names and classification

Acacia lineolata Benth. is the accepted name in Fabaceae, genus Acacia. The natural salt-soil account concerns A. lineolata subsp. lineolata in southwestern Western Australia. Craig et al. used A. aff. lineolata, whose identity as this species or subspecies is unconfirmed. [S1, S4, S5, S2]

The saline-habitat records concern an identified subspecies, whereas the salt-treatment material is A. aff. lineolata with unresolved identity; the records concern different taxonomic scopes. [S1, S4, S5, S2]

Morphology and identification

A shrub of southwestern Australia with flattened adult phyllodes, yellow globose flower heads and pods; the Australian flora describes diagnostic features and distribution of subsp. lineolata. The qualifier aff. in the experimental material name denotes unresolved identity, so its morphology is not confirmed to represent this species. [S1, S4, S2]

Distribution, habitat and phenology

The Flora-derived Wattle account describes subsp. lineolata on sandy or gravelly, commonly saline loams, with Casuarina, Halosarcia, and eucalypts. This is a natural salt-soil association for that subspecies, not an ecological description generalized to every infraspecific taxon. [S1, S4, S5]

The reviewed material did not provide a consistent, well-supported flowering or fruiting season; a single regional or cultivated observation is not generalized. [S5]

Salinity in natural habitats

The natural salt-soil record is specific to the Western Australian subsp. lineolata. [S1, S4]

Salinity studies

Craig et al. (1990) studied approximately 3-month-old nodulated Acacia plants in a greenhouse. NaCl, MgSO₄ and CaCl₂ were mixed in a 16:3:1 molar ratio and salinity was increased weekly; the drained saline treatment reached 1,200 mM mixed salts, while the saline-waterlogging treatment reached 500 mM. The drained saline treatment lasted 12 weeks, with 100% survival of A. aff. lineolata. The paper reports final irrigation-water ECw of 9500 mS/m (95 dS/m); eHALOPH transcribes 9.5 dS/m, a 10-fold discrepancy. The material was identified only as A. aff. lineolata and is not confirmed as this species; survival does not establish sustained growth. [S3, S2]

Reported mechanisms and ecological adaptations

Because the tested material is identified as A. aff. lineolata, the database record does not establish a salt-response mechanism for confirmed A. lineolata material. [S1, S2, S3, S4]

Conclusions and evidence gaps

The natural salt-soil record concerns Western Australian subsp. lineolata, whereas the experimental material was A. aff. lineolata of unresolved identity. Craig et al. measured height increments in the experimental material and reported its survival at the end of the drained saline treatment. These results do not establish long-term growth or reproduction of confirmed A. lineolata at the final ECw of 9500 mS/m. The paper’s ECw of 9500 mS/m conflicts with eHALOPH’s 9.5 dS/m. [S1, S2, S3, S4]