Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs from near Bonnie Rock S to near Lake Grace with a disjunct occurrence near Broad Arrow, south-western W.A.

Description

Shrub 1–4 m high, rounded, occasionally a tree 3–8 m high. Branchlets terete, glabrous, sometimes hairy in phyllode axils. Phyllodes ascending to erect, linear to narrowly oblong-elliptic, ±straight, rarely terete, 7–13 cm long, usually 1.5–3 mm wide, with a short-acuminate and gently curved to uncinate apex, glabrous except pulvinus sometimes hairy adaxially, with numerous very fine closely parallel nerves; central nerve sometimes slightly more evident than the rest. Inflorescences simple, mostly 2 per axil; peduncles 1.5–4 mm long, ±puberulous; heads short-obloid to globular, 6–8 mm long, 5–7 mm diam., 28–36-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 2/3-united. Pods linear, raised over and constricted between seeds, straight or slightly curved, to 9 cm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, narrowly oblong-elliptic, 2.5–4 mm long, glossy, tan; funicle/aril fleshy, folded several times to form long conical terminal aril.

Habitat

Grows in sand, sandy gravel and loam, in heath, scrub, shrubland and low open woodland.

Specimens

W.A.: 12.5 km W of Moorine Rock on Great Eastern Hwy, B.R.Maslin 4477 (MEL, PERTH); 25 km NE of Bonnie Rock, K.Newbey 9621 (PERTH); 2.7 km W of Merredin, M.D.Tindale 3729 (NSW, PERTH).

Notes

K.Newbey 9621 from Bonnie Rock at the northern limit of the geographic range is atypical in having phyllodes 5–6 mm wide. R.Cumming 2457 (CANB, PERTH) from Yorkrakine is atypical in having terete phyllodes.

FOA Reference

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

Author

R.S.Cowan, B.R.Maslin