Common Name

Menzel’s Wattle

Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Discontinuous from Mt Hack, North Flinders Ra., S to Murray Bridge, S.A. The N.S.W. record of A. menzelii by G.M.Cunningham et al., Pl. W New South Wales (1981: 366), is based on a misidentification of a specimen (G.M.Cunningham & P.L.Milthorpe 2729, NSW, PERTH) which represents a taxon of uncertain status but perhaps is a hybrid involving A. montana.

Description

Shrub to 2 m high, compact, rounded, spreading, resinous, viscid. Branchlets sparsely appressed-puberulous. Phyllodes terete to flat and linear, straight or incurved, 1.5–4 cm long, 0.5–1 (–1.5) mm wide, obliquely rounded-truncate with an excentric blunt point, green, glabrous, 6-nerved in all, 2-nerved per face when flat; nerves brownish, impressed, viscid; gland obscure, 0.5–2 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple, 1 or 2 per axil; peduncles 3–8 mm long, glabrous; basal bract persistent; heads globular, 20–27-flowered, golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals ±free to 1/2-united. Pods linear, scarcely constricted between seeds, ±straight, biconvex, to 5 cm long, 2–3 mm wide, thinly coriaceous-chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong, c. 4 mm long; aril fleshy.

Habitat

Grows in calcareous loamy earths in open Eucalyptus scrub.

Specimens

S.A.: c. 1 km NE of Monarto, P.Lang 8424 (AD); 16 km E of Brachina, N.N.Donner 145 (AD); 2.5 km due NE of Mt Hack summit, M.O’Leary 2008 (AD, PERTH); 13.9 km W of Melrose, L.D.Williams 12702 (AD).

Notes

D.J.E.Whibley 5993 (AD) from the Lofty Ra. is unusual in having phyllodes c. 1.5 mm wide.

A member of the ‘A. wilhelmiana group’ which can be confused with narrow phyllode forms of A. wilhelmiana which has the peduncles densely golden appressed-puberulous.

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

Minor edits by B.R.Maslin