Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs from near Mt Ragged E to near Cocklebiddy, south-western W.A., with a glabrous variant from the Ravensthorpe Ra., c. 300 km west of Mt Ragged.

Description

Prostrate, domed or spreading subshrub to c. 0.5 m high. Branchlets pubescent to villous, glabrescent. Stipules subpersistent, 1–2 mm long. Phyllodes subcrowded, slightly asymmetric, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, occasionally lanceolate, 1–2 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, l:w = 2.5–7.5, normally acute, excentrically or obliquely mucronate, coarsely to sharply pungent, coriaceous, glabrous, infrequently pubescent; midrib evident and situated slightly towards the 1-nerved abaxial margin; adaxial margin finely 2-nerved with nerves usually coalescing near or above middle of phyllode; gland inconspicuous, to 1 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple or extremely rudimentary 1- or 2-headed racemes with axes less than 0.5–1 mm long; peduncles 5–15 mm long, glabrous; heads globular, 4–4.5 mm diam., 20–30-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods (immature) linear, 1- or 2-coiled, with one margin ±puberulous. Seeds not seen.

Specimens

W.A.: 13.5 km S of Cocklebiddy, A.S.George 11843 (PERTH, TLF); 12.8 km SW of Mt Ragged, P.G.Wilson 10064 (MEL, PERTH).

Notes

A variant from the Ravensthorpe Ra. (Acacia sp. Raventhorpe (R.S.Cowan & B.R.Maslin RSC A-760)), not included in the description, may represent a distinct species. It differs most significantly from A. excentrica in the following ways: branchlets glabrous or with ±appressed hairs; phyllodes frequently continuous with the branchlets (but not always forming cauline wings), with midrib usually central and drying the same colour as the rest of the lamina (drying yellow in typical variant), with nerves on adaxial margin very indistinct, with gland 3–5 mm above pulvinus; peduncles 1 per axil, 5–9 mm long.

Resembling broad phyllode forms of A. lachnophylla and A. poliochroa. Similar to A. merrallii. Inflorescence and carpological characters suggest some affinities with A. glaucoptera.

FOA Reference

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

Author

B.R.Maslin

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