Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Scattered from near Coorow eastwards through Wongan Hills to near Burracoppin and Southern Cross, south-western W.A.

Description

Shrub to 3 m high, open, wispy, single-stemmed or sparingly branched at base. Branchlets straight to slightly flexuose, sericeous between resin-ribs at the sometimes subpendulous extremities. Phyllodes distant, sessile, ascending, incurved, quadrangular to subquadrangular, occasionally terete, (10–) 12–20 (–25) cm long, 0.7–1 mm wide, rather slender, yellow-green, glabrous (except at base or appressed-hairy between nerves; nerves 8, broad, flat-topped, each separated by a shallow dark-coloured furrow. Inflorescences simple, 1 or 2 per axil; heads ±sessile, subglobular to obloid, 6–12 mm long, 5–8 mm diam., golden; bracteoles acute. Flowers 4-merous; sepals 1/2–3/4-united. Pods linear, to 12 cm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, densely appressed-hairy; margins yellowish, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic, 3 mm long, glossy, mottled grey-brown and brown; aril ±seed-length, drying yellowish.

Habitat

Grows in sand over laterite, mostly in shrubland.

Specimens

W.A.: 5 km N of Wongan Hills, B.R.Maslin 4970 (BRI, CANB, K, MEL, MO, NY, PERTH); 6.9 km E of Midlands road on South Waddy Road, D.Papenfus DP454 (PERTH); between Moorine Rock and Southern Cross, 6 Aug. 1949, E.Salisbury s.n. (PERTH).

Notes

Closely related to A. aprica and A. tratmaniana; also related to A. merinthophora which has strongly flexuose, pendulous branchlets.

FOA Reference

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

Author

A.R.Chapman, B.R.Maslin