Common Name

Mitchell’s Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Restricted to a few areas on the Northern Tablelands of N.S.W., common in central and western Vic., especially the Grampians, and only near Mount Gambier in S.A.

Description

Shrub 0.5–2 m high. Bark smooth. Branchlets ±terete, obscurely to moderately ridged, slightly resinous, pubescent. Young foliage-tips fawn. Leaves pale green, ±eglandular, subsessile with basal pinnae arising immediately above or near pulvinus; rachis 0.1–1.5 (–3) cm long, terete or furrowed above, with short and long hairs; pinnae 1–5 (–6) pairs, to 0.2–1.2 cm long; pinnules 2–7 pairs, narrowly oblong to oblong, obovate or sometimes elliptic, 2–5 (–7) mm long, 1–1.7 (–2.5) mm wide, 1-nerved, glabrous, obtuse and apiculate. Inflorescences simple, 1–3 in leaf-axils, sometimes falsely racemose at ends of branchlets; peduncles 7–20 mm long, sparsely hairy to glabrous. Heads 30–45-flowered, pale yellow to ±white. Pods sometimes slightly constricted between a few seeds, straight to strongly curved, 1.5–8 cm long, 4–8 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, brown, grey-brown to blackish, glabrous.

Phenology

Flowers irregularly, mainly Nov.–Mar.; fruits Oct.–Apr.

Habitat

Grows in open forest, woodland and open scrub-heath or in swampy areas, in gravelly or sandy soils.

Specimens

S.A.: Caroline State Forest, R.Bates 558 (AD, NSW). N.S.W.: Guy Fawkes near Cathedral Rocks, J.L.Boorman (B, BRI, K, MO, NSW2830, PERTH, TL, US); near Waratah Trig area, Gibraltar Ra., M.D.Tindale 2066 (AD, CANB, K, PERTH, TL). Vic.: 11.3 km N of Portland, J.Anderson 374 (MEL, NSW); 1 km NNE of Perry R., Gippsland, F.E.Davies 611, M.J.Winsbury & S.Donaldson (AD, MEL, NSW).

Notes

This species was formerly placed in sect. Pulchellae, a group restricted to W.A. It differs, however, in the free sepals and probably eglandular leaves as well as the longitudinal seeds, ebracteate peduncle bases and firmly chartaceous pods (rare in sect. Pulchellae). There are differences in stem, leaf and pod characters between the disjunct N.S.W. and other populations, which requires further investigation.

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 J.Reid & J.Rogers

M.D.Tindale, P.G.Kodela