Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Occurs predominantly from the Greenough R. near Geraldton N to near Kalbarri, south-western W.A., but with one collection from near Moora (c. 250 km SSE of Geraldton) and another from near Lake Varley (c. 400 km SE of Moora).

Description

Spreading shrub 0.1–1 m high. Branchlets short, slender, straight, inclined to ascending, spinescent, glabrous to subglabrous. Phyllodes ±erect, narrowly oblong to linear, horizontally flattened, 7–13 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, obtuse, green, glabrous or subglabrous, with obscure nerves, 1-nerved on upper surface, 3-nerved and sparsely reticulate on lower surface; gland on upper surface near apex, often absent. Inflorescences rudimentary 1-headed racemes with axes to 1 mm long; peduncles 5–10 mm long, glabrous; heads slightly obloid, 20–25-flowered, golden; bracteole laminae evident in bud, white-fimbriolate. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united. Pods straight to curved, to 5 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, firmly chartaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal to oblique, ovate, 2–2.5 mm long, shiny, obscurely mottled; aril ±as long as seed.

Habitat

Grows in sand, lateritic sand, sandy loam, loam and rocky loam, often on sandplains, in low shrubland of Acacia spp. and Melaleuca.

Specimens

W.A.: Greenough R. Crossing, L.Diels 4211 (PERTH); 6.5 km W of Moora towards Dandaragan, B.R.Maslin 4353 (PERTH); 50 km N of Lake King on road to Lake Varley, M.H.Simmons 1332 (PERTH); 53.6 km S of Northampton P.O. on North West Coastal Hwy, M.D.Tindale 2688 (NSW, PERTH).

Notes

Diaphyllodes (horizontally flattened phyllodes, i.e. depressed) with the gland situated on the upper surface of the lamina are rare in Acacia; see discussion under A. diaphyllodinea for description of this character-state and literature references.

The illustration of A. oxyclada in J.H.Maiden, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 53, contains discordant elements in pl. 12: figs 1 & 2 are A. oxyclada and figs 3–9 are A. pulviniformis. Also in J.H.Maiden, J. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New South Wales 53: 196, the flowers and pods described in the table are those of A. pulviniformis.

Closely allied to A. basedowii.

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