Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs in north-eastern Qld from Cape York Peninsula to near Townsville, on Atherton Tableland and offshore islands.

Description

Shrub to 3.5 m high. Bark smooth, grey. Branchlets angular, rather coarse, minutely tomentose. Phyllodes obliquely elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 7–13 cm long, 20–55 mm wide, broadly rounded apically and apiculate, thick, scurfy, minutely tomentose or sometimes glabrous, with 3–5 prominent main nerves (the lower 2 often confluent with each other almost at base); minor nerves 3 or 4 per mm, strongly anastomosing, with interstices ±narrowly oblong; gland 1, basal, to 1 mm above pulvinus. Spikes 3–4 cm long. Flowers 5-merous; calyx c. 1 mm long, cupular, slightly lobed, slightly pubescent except lobes; corolla c. 1.4 mm long, dissected to 1/2, later free, papillose on margins; ovary densely pubescent. Pods linear, raised over and shallowly constricted between seeds, curved, 5–6 cm long, puberulous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to subglobular, 3.5–4.5 mm long, black.

Phenology

Flowering irregular.

Habitat

Grows in shallow, rocky soils in eucalypt woodland on ridges and hillsides.

Notes

Allied to A. holosericea and A. pellita but can be distinguished from them by its phyllodes which have main longitudinal nerves that are not concurrent with the margin near the base and by its almost glabrous flowers. Near Townsville A. nesophila putatively hybridizes with A. polystachya (R.J.Cumming 9463, BRI) and also A. spirorbis (R.J.Cumming 18777, BRI).

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 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