Common Name

East Barrens Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Mostly restricted to the Fitzgerald R. Natl Park, south-western W.A.

Description

Spreading intricate shrub 0.2–0.5 m high. Branchlets puberulous to hirsutellous. Stipules 1.5–2 mm long. Phyllodes mostly ±patent, straight or shallowly recurved, trigonous-terete, 6–13 mm long, c. 1 mm wide, pungent with a slender 1 mm long cusp, rigid, glabrous, 3-nerved, sometimes imperfectly 4-nerved, deeply channelled on either side of abaxial nerve when dry. Inflorescences simple, 1 per axil; peduncles 5–7 mm long, glabrous; heads globular, 23–25-flowered, pale yellow to cream. Flowers mostly 4-merous; sepals 1/3–1/2-united. Pods biconvex, shallowly constricted between seeds, to 4 cm long, 2–4 mm wide, red-brown to dark brown, ±glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic, c. 3 mm long, dull, grey-brown; aril terminal.

Habitat

Grows in shallow sand over quartzite, in low open heath, shrubland and mallee communities.

Specimens

W.A.: Fitzgerald R. Natl Park, K.Newbey 1618 (G, NSW, PERTH).

Notes

Similar to A. simulans which has verticillate phyllodes and glabrous to sparsely appressed-puberulous branchlets.

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

Minor edits by B.R.Maslin