Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Near coastal areas from Bathurst Bay S to near Cooktown with disjunct occurrences near Cairns and on Hinchinbrook Is., Qld.

Description

Spindly shrub or slender tree 2–6 m high. Bark white. Branchlets slightly angular, pruinose, glabrous. Phyllodes narrowly oblong-elliptic, shallowly to moderately falcate, sometimes straight-dimidiate, (5–) 6–10 (–15) cm long, 1–2 (–2.5) cm wide, obtuse, apiculate, thinly coriaceous, glabrous, with 3 prominent main longitudinal nerves (lowermost often confluent with lower margin at extreme base), openly reticulate between main nerves; gland to 4 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences terminal panicles; raceme axes 5–17 (–25) cm long, glabrous; peduncles 7–12 mm long; heads geminate, one maturing before the other, globular, 25–30-flowered, deep yellow. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods linear, raised over but not constricted between seeds, straight or curved, to 10 cm long, 6–9 mm wide, thin-coriaceous, glabrous; margins narrowly winged. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic, ±5 mm long, dull, dark brown, exarillate.

Habitat

Grows in sand in heath and open forest.

Specimens

Qld: Archer Point, 16 km SSE of Cooktown, J.Moriarty 1050 (PERTH).

Notes

Has been confused with A. homaloclada, a species readily distinguished by its non-paniculate inflorescences and arillate seeds; both species occur on Hinchinbrook Is., Qld, but are allopatric, fide L.Pedley, Austrobaileya 2: 324–325 (1987).

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 B.R.Maslin, J.Reid & J.Rogers

R.S.Cowan, B.R.Maslin