Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Restricted to Cape Le Grand Natl Park., W.A.

Description

Shrub 1-2.5 m high, rounded or obconical, bushy. Branchlets ribbed, hoary, often scurfy. Phyllodes oblanceolate to narrowly oblong or elliptic, 4-9 cm long, 7-14 (-16) mm wide, obtuse with a blunt apiculum, coriaceous, silvery grey-green, sericeous between nerves, with 1 or 3 distant main nerves per face and numerous fine closely parallel non-anastomosing nerves in between; central nerve slightly more prominent than the rest; marginal nerves yellow (reddish and resinous on young phyllodes). Inflorescences simple, 1-headed; peduncles 2-3 (-5) mm long, sericeous, with indumentum often obscured by resin; spikes obloid to short-cylindrical, 7-10 mm long, 4-5 mm diam., light golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals 2/3-3/4-united, with broadly triangular lobes. Pods erect to patent, linear, straight, to 10 cm long, 4-5 mm wide, firmly crustaceous, hoary. Seeds longitudinal, oblong-elliptic, 3-5 mm long, semi-glossy, dark brown; aril apical, white (fresh).

Habitat

Grows in pockets of loamy sand on granitic slopes and ridges, in open scrub, open heath and low shrubland.

Specimens

W.A.: Cape Le Grand Natl Park, A.Strid 21174 (AD, CANB, MEL, NSW, PERTH); Mt Le Grand, P.G.Wilson 5582 (PERTH).

Notes

Bears some resemblance to A. tarculensis, from S.A., which has generally shorter phyllodes, longer flower spikes, free sepals and broader, curved pods containing larger, slightly obliquely arranged seeds.

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.Reid

A.R.Chapman, B.R.Maslin