Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Ranges from the eastern part of the Kimberley region, W.A., through central N.T. and north-western Qld to the eastern highlands of Qld from about Clermont to Herberton.

Description

Shrub to 0.5 m high, spreading. Branchlets glabrous or hairy, occasionally glaucous. Stipules (0.5–) 1–2 (–3) mm long, scarious. Phyllodes 5–9 per whorl, slightly flattened, straight or slightly recurved, 2–8 mm long, 0.3–0.5 mm wide, abruptly contracted into a very short mucro 0.1–0.2 mm long, puberulous, pilose or glabrous, with an impressed adaxial nerve, obscurely ribbed beneath. Peduncles 4–15 mm long, glabrous or hairy. Heads 10–25-flowered. Flowers 5- or 6-merous, striate; calyx 0.6–1.4 mm long, thick, striate; calyx lobes broadly triangular; corolla lobes striate, hispid to almost glabrous. Pods stipitate, linear, straight to curved, to 50 mm long, 4–6 mm wide, ±pruinose, glabrous, somewhat viscid; margins nerve-like. Seeds longitudinal, 3.5–5 mm long; pleurogram closed.

Habitat

Occurs in sandy and shallow rocky soils.

Notes

A.S.George, Fl. Australia 11B: 400–402 (2001) followed L.Pedley, Contr. Queensland Herb. 11: 14–16 (1972), in recognizing three varieties within A. galioides. However, Pedley (pers. comm., June 2011) does not now recognize infraspecific taxa for the species and this taxonomy is adopted here.

The indumentum of short hairs (when present) and stipitate (7–10 mm long) pod distinguish this species from all others of the group, and it is difficult to specify its nearest relative. Within A. galioides there are gradations in such characters as indumentum and size of flowers.

FOA Reference

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

Author

A.S.George

Revised by B.R.Maslin