Common Name

Koolanooka Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from E of Morawa, in scattered populations at Koolanooka Hills, south-western W.A.

Description

Intricately branched, multistemmed shrub 1–2 m high. Branchlets verruculose-ribbed by tubercle-based often caducous hairs, pilose mainly on the ribs. New shoots maroon red or dull brown tinged maroon. Stipules 2–4 mm long, often only the thickened, indurate bases persisting at mature nodes. Phyllodes rather wide spreading, mostly narrowly oblong to oblong-elliptic, the tip innocuous or coarsely pungent, shallowly to markedly recurved but sometimes with few straight and dimidiate, coriaceous, (20–) 25–45 mm long, (4–) 6–10 mm wide, subglaucous (?aging green); midrib prominent, yellowish, glabrescent; lateral nerves obscure; marginal nerve prominent, yellow, verruculose as on branchlets; gland seemingly absent; pulvinus vestigial. Inflorescences initiated on expanding new shoots, simple or rudimentary 1–2-headed racemes 1–2 (–6) mm long; peduncles 10–18 mm long, glabrous, red; heads globular, densely 26–50 flowered, light golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals ± free, 0.5–0.7 mm long, c. 1/5 length of petals; petals tinged dark brown at apex, nerveless, glabrous. Pods and seeds not seen.

Phenology

Flowers Sept.–Oct. and possibly Nov.

Habitat

Grows in loam on slopes of low banded ironstone and laterised banded ironstone hills in mallee shrubland.

Specimens

W.A.: Koolanooka Hills, E of Morawa [precise localities withheld for conservation purposes], B.R.Maslin 9105 (PERTH), R.Meissner & Y.Caruso 84 (PERTH) and R.Meissner & Y.Caruso 88 (PERTH).

Notes

Possibly allied to A. aculeiformis and A. botrydion, both of which have differently shaped, shorter phyllodes and longer sepals than those of A. muriculata. Additionally A. aculeiformis has spinose, recurved stipules; A. botrydion has coarsely pungent branchlets often devoid of phyllodes, longer racemes and longer sepals.

FOA Reference

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

Author

J.Reid, B.R.Maslin