Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in coastal areas of southern Eyre and Yorke Penin., S.A., where often locally common.

Description

Bushy shrub 0.5–2.5 m high. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes occasionally +/- continuous with branchlets, oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, obtuse to sub-acute, 12–55 mm long, 2–15 mm wide, straight to shallowly curved, green to sub-glaucous, midrib evident; pulvinus distinct or poorly developed. Inflorescences simple, initiated synchronously with phyllodes on new shoots and can appear falsely racemose when subtending phyllodes are not fully developed; peduncles 11–25 mm long, glabrous; heads globular, densely 40–84-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; sepals clearly united. Legumes narrowly oblong, often constricted between seeds, 5–7 cm long, 7–12 mm wide, coriaceous, crustaceous or woody, glabrous. Seeds transverse, elliptic, compressed, 4–5 x c. 4 mm, dull, black; funicle dark red (when dry), half or more encircling seed; aril clavate.

Habitat

Grows in sand and limestone.

Specimens

S.A. Sturt Bay, c. 15 km S of Warooka, B.R.Maslin 4540 (PERTH); 28 miles from Yorketown, toward Foul Bay, M.B.Phillips SA/66 429 (AD, CBG); Point Davenport, 20 Aug. 1977, F.D.Morgan s.n. (AD, BH, L, NSW.); Cape Donnington, C.R.Alcock C138 (AD).

Notes

This hybrid is discussed and illustrated in B.R.Maslin and D.J.E.Whibley, Nuytsia 6(1): 24, 31(1987) and noted by B.R.Maslin, Fl. Australia 11A: 271 & 275 (2001), under A. nematophylla and A. anceps respectively.

These hybrid plants exhibit considerable morphological variation, especially in phyllode width, and possess various combinations of characters which are intermediate between the two presumed parents, Acacia sp. Winged (C.R.Alcock 4936) (= second variant under A. anceps) and A. nematophylla, namely, phyllode width and texture, legume width and number of flowers per head. They hybrids superficially resemble the "typical variant" of A. anceps which can be distinguished by its larger, oblanceolate, light green phyllodes and which does not occur on Yorke Penin. or southern Eyre Penin. Also resembles A. cupularis which can be distinguished by its linear phyllodes, short racemes and longitudinally oriented seeds.

FOA Reference

Flora of Australia Project

Author

B.R.Maslin, M.O'Leary