Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from near Bulla Bulling (c. 30 km W of Coolgardie), inland south-western W.A.

Description

Shrub 0.5-0.65 m high, spreading. Branchlet apices sericeous between the glabrous resinous ribs. Phyllodes linear, shallowly incurved to substraight, compressed-rhombic to flat, 3-4.5 cm long, 1.3-1.6 mm wide, acute, ±coarsely pungent, grey-green to silvery light green, minutely sericeous in grooves between nerves, 3-nerved per face but sometimes only the prominent central nerve visible when phyllodes narrow; marginal nerves broad. Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; heads sessile, globular, ±4.5 mm diam., ±20-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 2/3-united, 1/2 petal length, villous. Pods linear, not raised over but ±shallowly constricted between the somewhat widely spaced seeds, to 6.5 cm long, 2 mm wide, thin-crustaceous, minutely silvery sericeous on the dark brown faces, with broad, paler margins glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, narrowly elliptic, 3.2-3.5 mm long, glossy, mottled light and dark brown; aril apical, conical, ±as long as seed.

Habitat

Grows on sandplains in deep yellow sand in open shrubland.

Specimens

W.A.: 2 km N of Caenyie Rock, c. 45 km W of Coolgardie, K.Newbey 8705 (PERTH).

Notes

Distinguished from other members of the ‘A. heteroneura group’ (see R.S.Cowan & B.R.Maslin, Nuytsia 10: 29, 1995) by its sessile, globular flower-heads and, with the exception of A. desertorum var. desertorum, its 8-nerved phyllodes. Also superficially similar to A. microneura.

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, B.R.Maslin

Minor edits by J.Reid