Common Name

Shark Bay Manna Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Restricted to calcareous dunes on Tamala and Carrarang stns, Shark Bay, W.A.

Description

Bushy shrub or tree 1.5–4 m high, multi-stemmed, crowns dense, clonal due to aggressive suckering habit. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes patent, oblanceolate, normally shallowly recurved, (4–) 5–8 (–10)cm long, (4–) 5–10 (–12) mm wide, gradually narrowed to base, abruptly narrowed to obtuse apex, thinly coriaceous, slightly shiny, green, glabrous, 1-nerved per face, obscurely penninerved; gland obscure, single or sometimes 2, the lowermost 1–3.5 cm above pulvinus. Inflorescences racemose; raceme axes 1–3.5 cm long, sparsely appressed-puberulous with pale yellow or white hairs, often glabrous in fruit; peduncles 3–6 mm long, indumentum as on raceme axes; heads globular, 24–26-flowered, golden; bracteole laminae golden-fimbriolate; buds slightly obloid. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods broadly linear to narrowly oblong, flat but rounded over seeds, ±straight-edged or slightly to moderately constricted between seeds, to 20 cm long, (8–) 10–13 mm wide, dark brown or dark reddish brown, glabrous. Seeds mostly longitudinal, (6–) 7–9 mm long, (4–) 5.5–6.5 mm long, flattened, black, minutely verruculose/pitted, partially to wholly encircled by red funicle; aril clavate.

Habitat

Grows in low scrub or heath (often with A. rostellifera or A. ligulata) in unconsolidated light greyish brown calcareous sand, on low dunes and dune swales.

Specimens

W.A.: 25 km N of Tamala, H.Demarz 8584 (PERTH); Tamala Stn, B.R.Maslin 3696B (PERTH).

Notes

A member of the ‘A. microbotrya group’ most closely related to A. daphnifolia.

FOA Reference

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

Author

Edited by B.R.Maslin

B.R.Maslin