Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in the Pilbara region of north-western W.A. in a few, small, scattered populations near Nullagine.

Description

Wispy, spindly, single stemmed, erect, glabrous shrub 2–8 m high, crowns sparse, main stems c. 3 cm dbh. Bark smooth, grey except upper branches and the slender branchlets pruinose. Stipules ±pungent, absent from some nodes, 1–3 mm long. Phyllodes narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, narrowed at apex into a slender, sharp point, mostly 5–11 cm long and 10–20 mm wide, l: w = 4–7, slightly undulate, grey-green, pruinose; midrib prominent, lateral nerves openly anastomosing. Inflorescences racemes or terminal panicles, the racemes 3–15 cm long; peduncles 8–12 mm long, solitary or paired at nodes along the raceme axis, pale-coloured; heads golden, densely 50–70-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free, linear. Pods not seen.

Phenology

Flowers July–Sept.

Habitat

Grows low in the landscape, often along dry watercourses on low rocky hills, on agglomerative material in grey-red soil with stony surface.

Specimens

W.A.: 23.8 km N of Nullagine, 7.8 km E of Hales Grave Well, 4.1 km SE of Lionel Mining Centre, 20.3 km NW of Blue Speck Mining Centre, S.vanLeeuwen 5227 (K, MEL, PERTH); c. 25 km N of Nullagine, 9 km E of Nullagine–Marble Bar rd on track to Lionel Mining Centre, B.R.Maslin 8758 (PERTH).

Notes

Judging from morphological criteria it appears that this entity is a hybrid between A. aphanoclada and A. pyrifolia var. pyrifolia; it has been found sympatric with both putative parents in one population. In the Pilbara A. pyrifolia var. pyrifolia occasionally has a spindly, open growth form similar to that found in the putative hybrid but can be distinguished by its phyllode length:width ratio which does not exceed 2.

Possibly has some horticultural potential, fide B.R.Maslin et al., Wattles of the Pilbara CD-ROM (2010).

FOA Reference

Flora of Australia Project

Author

B.R.Maslin