Common Name

Miniritchie, Red Witchetty

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in arid W.A. principally in the Murchison and southern Carnarvon districts. The N.T., S.A. and eastern W.A. occurrences of this species in Fl. Australia 11B: 293 (2001) are now described as A. doreta. Grows on plains, granite mesas or undulating hills, in stony red sand or loam in Acacia scrub or shrubland.

Description

Shrub or tree to 4 m high, 3–5 m wide, multistemmed or branching low to ground, flat-topped, resinous. Bark ‘Minni Ritchi’, red-brown. Branchlets very slightly angular towards apices, soon terete, orange, grey or light brown, glabrous or puberulous between orange ridges, often papillose. Phyllodes ±erect, thickly filiform, often curved towards base, mostly terete, 3–10 cm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, coarsely pungent, rigid, finely multistriate; nerves 8–10 per mm; gland 1, small, basal, to 3 mm above pulvinus. Spikes 1.2–3 cm long, golden. Flowers 5-merous (rarely 6-merous flowers amongst mostly 5-merous flowers on same spike); calyx 1.1–1.5 mm long, dissected for 1/5–1/2, ±pubescent; corolla 1.6–2.4 mm long; ovary glabrous or slightly hairy. Pods linear, slightly constricted between seeds, straight or falcate, 5–11 (-15) cm long, 5–8 (-10) mm wide, crustaceous-coriaceous to subwoody, minutely puberulous; margins slightly thickened. Seeds longitudinal, rotund or orbicular, flattened, depressed towards centre, 5–8(–9) mm long, 4–5 (7.5) mm wide, brownish black; pleurogram with narrow halo; areole open, yellowish olive.

Phenology

Flowers Mar.–Oct.

Habitat

Grows on plains, granite mesas or undulating hills, in stony red sand or loam in Acacia scrub or shrubland.

Specimens

W.A.: Ejah, Mileura Stn, Upper Murchison, N.T.Burbidge 8071 & A.Kanis (CANB, NSW); 8.2 km SSE of Yalgoo, R.G.Coveny 7931 & B.R.Maslin (CANB, K, MEL, NSW, PERTH, US); Meekatharra, B.Maloney 73/28 (NSW); N of Lake Disappointment, B.R.Maslin 2268 (NSW, PERTH). N.T.: 1 km SE of Kathleen Spring, P.K.Latz 8738 (CANB, DNA, PERTH). S.A.: c. 50 km S of Cheeseman Peak, R.B.Major 33 (AD).

Notes

Differs from A. cyperophylla in its flat-topped habit, shorter phyllodes, very long peduncles and larger pods. Related also to A. doreta.

FOA Reference

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

Author

Revised by B.R.Maslin

Dr M.D.Tindale and Dr P.G.Kodela with the assistance of M.Bedward, S.J.Davies, C.Herscovitch, D.A.Keith and/or D.A.Morrison