Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Scattered across the northern Kimberley, W.A., and Arnhem Land, N.T., including offshore islands, and in northern Qld near Lawn Hill and Cape Melville S to near Clermont.

Description

Spindly glabrous shrub 1–3 m high, sometimes slender tree to 5 m high, prostrate in exposed coastal situation. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes oblong-elliptic to narrowly elliptic, commonly slightly incurved, (0.8–) 3–7 (–8.2) cm long, (2–) 4–10 (–13) mm wide, acute or obtuse and mucronulate, coriaceous, with (1 or) 3 main nerves and few ±obscure longitudinally anastomosing minor nerves in between; gland 1–10 mm above pulvinus, often 1 or 2 others along adaxial margin. Inflorescences simple or occasionally 1‑headed racemes with axes to 2 mm long, 1 or 2 per node; peduncles 2–7 mm long; basal bract persistent; heads globular, 4–6 mm diam., 25–40-flowered, golden; bracteoles acute to short-acuminate, normally evident in buds. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free. Pods linear, raised over and constricted between seeds, to 6.5 cm long, 3–6 (–7) mm wide, chartaceous. Seeds longitudinal, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 4–5.5 mm long, dull, black; aril clavate.

Habitat

Grows on stony hills and slopes in sandstone country and, in drier areas, in lateritic soil in open woodland.

Specimens

W.A.: Crocodile Ck, Yanipi Peninsula, K.F.Kenneally 10126 (BRI, CANB, DNA, PERTH). N.T.: 35.4 km SSW of Borrologla, N.M.Henry 165 (PERTH); Gove Peninsula, D.Hinz 741611 (PERTH). Qld: 13 km S of Laura, J.R.Clarkson 3671 (PERTH).

Notes

Phyllodes used traditionally by N.T. aborigines to relieve nasal congestion, fide, Aboriginal Communities of the Northern Territory (1993), Traditional Aboriginal Medicines N. Territory Austral. 32–33 (Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory of Australia, Darwin).

Allied with A. burrana, A. simsii and A. complanata.

FOA Reference

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

Author

R.S.Cowan, B.R.Maslin

Minor edits by B.R.Maslin & J.Rogers