Citation: A.P. de Candolle, Cat. Pl. Hort. Bot. Monsp. 74 (1813).

Derivation: para (Gr.)--beside, near; doxa (Gr.)--glory, splendour.

Synonymy: A. armata R. Br. in Ait.f., Hort. Kew. ed. 2. 5:463 (1813). Racosperma paradoxum (DC.)Martius, Hort. Reg. Monac. Semin. (1835).

Common name: kangaroo thorn, hedge wattle

Description:
Dense, bushy, spreading, prickly shrubs to 3 m high; branchlets angular striate and grooved, hairy or almost glabrous. Stipules rigid, straight, divaricate, spiny, 5-10 mm long.

Phyllodes obliquely oblong or lanceolate, 1-2 cm long, 3-7 mm broad, glabrous or hairy, upper margin often undulate, 1 prominent and usually eccentric vein with a few less conspicuous lateral veins, apex acute or obtuse with a short oblique point; glands small, 1-3 mm from the base.

Inflorescences simple and axillary, solitary; flower-heads globular, deep golden yellow, c. 40-flowered; buds often appearing spiny due to the prominent bracteoles which have a subulate point extending above the petals; peduncles usually about as long as phyllodes; flowers 5-merous.

Legumes cylindrical, straight or curved, 4-7 cm long, 4-5 mm broad, usually softly hairy. Seeds longitudinal in legume, obloid; funicle with 2-3 folds, scarcely thickened into an aril.

Distribution:  .Often occurs in dense patches in woodland, open forest, open scrub vegetation in the Eyre Peninsula (southern part), Yorke Peninsula, Flinders Ranges, Northern and Southern Lofty, Murray, South-Eastern and Kangaroo Island regions. Soils: mainly hard alkaline red duplex, hard acidic or neutral yellow duplex and shallow calcareous loamy soils. Rainfall 300-1200 mm. Also W.Aust., Qld, N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic. and Tas. S.Aust.: FR, EA, EP, NL, MU, YP, SL, KI, SE. Flowering time: August — October.

SA Distribution Map based on current data relating to specimens held in the State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: No text

Related taxa: Acacia glandulicarpa mainly differs in being 2-veined.

Taxonomic notes: Possible hybrids have been recorded. Specimens with A. dodonaeifolia as a probable parent have been recorded from southern Eyre Peninsula. A second possible hybrid, with A. triquetra as a probable parent, has also been recorded from southern Eyre Peninsula. Acacia paradoxa (as A. armata) has become established in South Africa, Ross (1975a) and is now naturalised in New Zealand, Webb et al. (1988).

Cultivation: Well known as a hedge plant and has been proclaimed a noxious plant for some districts of Vic. since 1907 (see W. Parsons Noxious weeds of Victoria 1973). Fast growth rate.

Author: Not yet available

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