Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Restricted to near Borden, Manypeaks and Boxwood Hill, W.A.

Description

Prostrate shrub 0.25–0.4 m high. Branchlets terete, densely hirsutellous with short, straight, patent to slightly retrorse hairs. Stipules semi-persistent, triangular to subulate, to 1 mm long. Phyllodes ±sessile, patent to reflexed, straight to shallowly recurved, subterete to flat, 7–22 mm long, 0.8–1.2 mm diam., cuspidate-pungent with brown tip, rigid, glabrous, 7- or 8‑nerved in all, 3-nerved per face when flat; gland 0.5–3 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple, 1 or 2 per axil; peduncles 4–8.5 mm long, glabrous to ±puberulous; heads globular, 4–6 mm diam., 9–20-flowered, golden. Flowers 5‑merous; sepals free. Pods linear, undulate, strongly raised and sub-fleshy over seeds, to 3 cm long, 2–2.5 mm wide, thinly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to broadly elliptic-oblong, 2.5 mm long, glossy, black; aril subapical, galeiform.

Habitat

Grows in loamy sand, loam and clay, in tall shrubland and woodland.

Specimens

W.A.: Warrungup, J.S.Beard 7480 (PERTH); 35.4 km E of Albany towards Jerramungup, S.Paust 501 (PERTH).

Notes

Related to the ‘A. sulcata group’ which (other than A. tetanophylla) have non-pungent phyllodes; A. tetanophylla has pungent, usually longer, phyllodes and normally glabrous branchlets. Also similar in general appearance to A. retrorsa which has 5-nerved phyllodes and finely ribbed branchlets. See R.S.Cowan & B.R.Maslin, W. Austral. Naturalist 18: 79 (1990), for full discussion of relationships. More distantly related to A. graciliformis.

FOA Reference

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

Author

R.S.Cowan

Minor edits by B.R.Maslin & J.Reid