Common Name

Binneringie Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Scattered, occurring on Narndee, Windimurra and Weebo Stns, from Lake Yindarlgooda S to Norseman and also near Carlisle Lakes, southern W.A.

Description

Shrub or ±gnarled tree, to 3 (–5) m high. Branchlets terete, densely puberulous, resinous, scarred by raised stem-projections where phyllodes have fallen. Phyllodes ascending to erect, straight to shallowly incurved, terete, 6–14.5 cm long, 1.5–2.5 mm diam., abruptly subulate-pungent, rigid, sparingly appressed-puberulous, glabrescent, with 4–8 distant rather obscure main nerves; glands 2, minute. Inflorescences simple, 2 or more per axil; peduncles 5–15 mm long, appressed-puberulous; heads globular, 4–5 mm diam., 30–56-flowered, golden; bracteoles spathulate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 2/3–3/4-united. Pods moniliform to linear, curved, twisted after dehiscence, to 14 cm long, 6–10 mm wide, coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 6.5–9 mm long, dull, brown; aril clavate to subhemispheric.

Habitat

Grows on sandy soil and small dunes close to salt lakes in low open shrubland with Atriplex spp. and Maireana spp., and on limestone and loamy clay.

Specimens

W.A.: NE end of Lake Cowan near Binneringie HS, M.Donaldson K50 (D) (AD, NSW, PERTH) and K50 (E) (MEL, PERTH); c. 8 km SW of Lake Ell, 31 July 1966, J.Lowry (PERTH).

Notes

Very similar to, and easily confused with, A. gilesiana which has glabrous branchlets and peduncles, well-developed racemes, innocuous to coarsely pungent, bluntish phyllodes, peltate bracteoles and non-arillate seeds. May superficially resemble A. kalgoorliensis (which has smaller phyllodes with stomata evident between the more numerous and more obvious nerves) or A. masliniana (which has more slender, finely multistriate phyllodes, shorter peduncles and quite different pods).

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