Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from three localities: Pony Hill (c. 18 km due SW of York), about halfway between Perth and Brookton and Boyagin Rock Reserve (c. 17 km due SW of Brookton), c. 65 km due SSE of Pony Hill, south-western W.A.

Description

Shrub 1.5–3 m high. Branchlets glabrous, hirtellous or pilose and/or puberulous. Stipules 1–3 mm long, ±spinescent with age but often only indurate bases persistent. Phyllodes occasionally fasciculate in nodose clusters, variably shaped, commonly dimidiately cuneate or oblong-cuneate, with lower margin ±straight and upper margin rounded or obtusely angled, mostly 8–25 mm long and 2–6 mm wide, with a slender excentric ±pungent mucro 0.5–1 mm long and sometimes pungent, glabrous; midrib central or situated towards lower margin. Inflorescences simple or rudimentary racemes; peduncles 1–6 per axil, 5–20 mm long, glabrous or hirtellous, with a single bract often present near or above middle; heads ±globular, 3.5–4.5 mm diam., 23–26-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 3/4–2/3-united, 1/4–1/3 length of petals. Pods strongly curved to loosely coiled, to 5 cm long, 4.5–5.5 mm wide, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to slightly elliptic, 4–5 mm long, dull, dark brown; aril terminal, cream.

Habitat

Grows in dark brown clay and coarse sand in runoff channels on granite rocks.

Specimens

W.A.: Boyagin Rock, B.R.Maslin 4857 (PERTH); Surrey Rd, 2 km SSE of Deefer Rd, c. 41 km due ESE of Lesmurdie, B.R.Maslin 6188 (G, K, PERTH).

Notes

Most closely related to A. congesta which has 30–70-flowered heads and free sepals. Sometimes superficially similar to A. parkerae.

Collections from the Boyagin Rock locality have larger, somewhat oblong-cuneate phyllodes, suggesting A. congesta in general facies, but the calyx difference separating the two species is too important to consider merging them.

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