Common Name

Vollies Minni Ritchi

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Scattered mainly in the eastern desert regions of W.A., eastwards to south-central N.T. and far NW S.A.

Description

Multi-stemmed shrub or small tree 1.5–5 m tall, crowns ±flat-topped to sub-rounded. Bark ‘Minni Ritchi’, red to red-brown, commonly extending to the upper branchlets. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes terete or sub-terete, (15–) 20–60 (–70) mm long, 0.8–1.5 mm diam., apices terminated by a hard, innocuous point, mostly shallowly to strongly incurved, sub-rigid, ascending to erect, normally glabrous, resinous; finely multi-striate with ±obscure nerves. Inflorescences simple; peduncles mostly 8–22 mm long; flowers in globular or obloid heads or cylindrical spikes, 5–22 mm long, light golden. Flowers 5-merous; calyx gamosepalous, shortly dissected into triangular lobes, 1/2–3/4 length of corolla. Pods narrowly oblong to linear, flat, 15–50 (–70) mm long, 2.5–5 mm wide, thinly coriaceous-crustaceous, brown, glabrous, valves deflexed along outer rim to form a narrow, perpendicular edge that is same colour as valve face. Seeds longitudinal to oblique, obloid to ellipsoid, 2–4 (–5) mm long, 1.5–2 (–2.5) mm wide dark brown to black but normally dull yellow at centre, sometimes obscurely mottled dull yellow, arillate.

Habitat

Occurs in a variety of habitats but often in skeletal soil on the slopes of rocky hills or on often stony plains in sandy loam. Commonly forms monotypic stands.

Notes

Inflorescence shape and phyllode length very variable, see B.R.Maslin, loc. cit. for discussion.

Closely related to A. rhodophloia which has flat phyllodes and A. grasbyi which has larger pods and seeds and often longer spikes; see B.R.Maslin, Nuytsia 24: 1991 (2014) for discussion.

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