Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Restricted to the area between Brookton and the headwaters of the Darkin R., south-western W.A.

Description

Shrub to 2 m high, dense, slightly aromatic. New shoots, inflorescences and pods resinous. Branchlets with broad flat yellow or green longitudinal bands between narrower brownish resinous ribs at extremities, glabrous. Phyllodes patent to erect, straight to shallowly incurved, terete to flat and linear, 2–5 cm long, 0.7–1.4 mm wide, obliquely truncate and excentrically mucronulate, green, glabrous, obscurely 4-nerved, 1-nerved per face when flat; nerves impressed, sometimes resinous; gland obscure, c. 0.5 mm above pulvinus on a slight angle. Inflorescences simple, 2 per axil, sometimes comprising 2-headed rudimentary racemes with axes to 1 mm long; peduncles 2–3 (–5) mm long, appressed-puberulous; basal bract yellow; heads globular, 8- or 9-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals c. 3/4-united, with lobes triangular; petals 1-nerved. Pods curved and/or undulate to irregularly circinnate, 7–8 mm wide, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to oblong-ovate, 4 mm long; aril thick.

Habitat

Grows in low-lying, seasonal swampy areas in sandy clay or loam in open scrub (near Darkin R.) or on low, sandy loam rises in open woodland adjacent to slightly saline flats (near Brookton).

Specimens

W.A.: Darkin Swamp, J.S.Beard 8130 (PERTH); between Beverley and Brookton, B.R.Maslin 6342 (AD, BRI, CANB, G, K, MEL, MO, NSW, NY, Z).

Notes

Distinguished from other members of the ‘A. wilhelmiana group’ by its very short peduncles and few-flowered heads.

FOA Reference

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia

Author

Minor edits by B.R.Maslin

B.R.Maslin