Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from the King Leopold Ra., Kimberley region of W.A.

Description

Shrub to 4 m high, openly branched. Branchlets finely ribbed, hispidulous with mainly glandular hairs. Stipules persistent. Phyllodes erect, narrowly elliptic, asymmetric with lower margin ±straight and upper margin convex, 5–9 cm long, 8–18 mm wide, grey-green, glandular-hispidulous, with longitudinal nerves numerous, 3–5 more prominent than rest (midrib most pronounced); minor nerves close together and ±sparingly anastomosing; gland basal. Inflorescences simple, mostly 2 per axil; peduncles 7–15 mm long, glandular-hispidulous; spikes cylindrical, c. 4 cm long, bright-golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united at very base; petals hispidulous. Pods linear, raised over seeds, 3–5 mm wide, crustaceous, glandular-hispidulous; margins thick, pale-coloured. Seeds longitudinal, broadly elliptic, 4.5 mm long, black; funicle/aril white.

Phenology

Flowers recorded June; fruit Aug.

Habitat

Grows in sand over sandstone.

Specimens

W.A.: King Leopold Ra. [precise locality withheld for conservation reasons], A.C.Beauglehole 53862 (BRI, K, PERTH); loc. id., A.C.Beauglehole 53926 (BRI, PERTH); loc. id., T.Willing 464 (CANB, K, MEL, NSW, PERTH).

Notes

Resembles the more widespread A. stipuligera which has nonglandular pubescence, phyllodes with more than a single gland and a less prominent reticulation, shorter peduncles and densely pubescent pods. Seemingly rare hybrids involving A. gloeotricha and A. hemsleyi (e.g. H.Dauncey H584, PERTH) have been recorded from populations containing one or other, or both, putative parents. The putative hybrids have the general facies of A. hemsleyi but are generally larger plants that are more floriferous. They have somewhat resinous branchlets and phyllodes which distinguishes them from A. hemsleyi; the resin develops on the surface of the branchlets and phyllodes, not as bright golden globules on short trichomes like in A. gloeotricha.

FOA Reference

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

Author

Minor edits by J.Rogers

A.R.Chapman, B.R.Maslin