Common Name

Tangle Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from a few populations near Cunderdin, W.A.

Description

Shrub. Branches tortuous, terete, striate-ribbed, glabrous or sparsely appressed-puberulous. Stipules c. 0.5–1 mm long, recurved, subspinose but normally only the hard basal portion remaining as tooth-like projections at most nodes. Phyllodes few and distant, resembling branchlets but not continuous with them although the basal articulation difficult to observe, pentagonal-terete, rudimentary (< 1 mm long) to 15 mm long, 1 mm wide, ±pungent, thick, 5‑nerved in all, with prominent midrib; upper margin 2-nerved, flat, 0.5 mm wide; gland not prominent, ±basal; pulvinus absent. Inflorescences simple; peduncles 0–4 mm long, appressed-puberulous; heads globular, probably c. 10–17-flowered. Flowers 5-merous, rather large; sepals c. 1/2-united, with lobes triangular and fimbriate, and tube glabrous, dark brown and obscurely 5-nerved; petals flabellate-striate. Pods curved, subterete, to 3 cm long, 2–3 mm wide, thinly crustaceous, red-brown, obscurely striate, appressed puberulous. Seeds longitudinal, aril terminal and conical.

Habitat

Grows in gravelly sandy loam.

Specimens

W.A.: near Cunderdin, B.J.Lepschi BJL2616 & T.Lally (K, MEL, PERTH); loc. id., B.R.Maslin BRM7673, B.J.Lepschi & S.G.Webster (AD, CANB, G, K, MEL, NSW, NY, PERTH).

Notes

Appears to have some relationship with A. aemula which is distinguished by its non-tortuous branches, longer phyllodes and peduncles and 4-merous flowers.

Specimens of A. carens and A. cummingiana were formerly confounded with this species.

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