Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Most common in the Shark Bay district but extending inland to Mt Magnet, near Paynes Find and Belele Stn, W.A.

Description

Much-branched ±rounded glabrous shrub, 1.5–3 m high. Branchlets rigid, ascending to erect, rather straight and sparingly divided, obscurely ribbed, grey-green to ash-grey, pale green when young, somewhat spinose. Phyllodes distant and few, often shed upon collection, linear, 2–4 cm long, 1–2 mm wide, scarcely pungent, colour as on branchlets; midrib obscure. Inflorescences 2–4-headed racemes, sometimes simple and 1-headed; raceme axes 2–15 mm long; peduncles 7–15 mm long; heads globular, loosely 14–16-flowered, cream. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united, truncate, 1/4 or less length of corolla. Pods rounded over seeds and slightly to prominently constricted between them, to 20 cm long, c. 1 cm wide, thinly coriaceous, brown. Seeds longitudinal, ±globose to broadly oblong-elliptic, 8–9 mm long, shiny, dark brown, arillate.

Habitat

Grows on plains and floodplains in soils ranging from sand to clay, in Acacia scrub or with Atriplex spp. or Halosarcia spp.

Specimens

W.A.: 26° parallel, North West Coastal Hwy, T.E.H.Aplin 5214 (CANB, MEL, NSW, NY, PERTH); Belele Stn NW of Meekatharra, R.Hacker (PERTH); 57.5 km SE of Yalgoo towards Paynes Find, B.R.Maslin 4252 (PERTH).

Notes

Habit and branchlets similar to that of A. wilcoxii and A. exocarpoides but distinguished by flat phyllodes and much larger pods and seeds.

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