Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Confined to an area bounded by Corrigin, Mt Barker and Pingrup, south-western W.A.

Description

Prostrate shrub forming dense intricate mats to 0.2 m high. Branchlets short, straight, spinescent, obscurely ribbed to ribless, appressed-puberulous to glabrous. Phyllodes straight to shallowly incurved with apices often slightly recurved, semi-terete to compressed and linear, 4–11 mm long, 0.4–0.7 mm wide, green, ±glabrous, nerveless or with obscure midrib; gland inconspicuous, c. 1 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences rudimentary 1-headed racemes with axes > 0.5 mm long; peduncles 2–6 mm long, slender, glabrous; basal bracts brown; heads globular, 2–2.5 mm diam., 6- or 7-flowered, golden. Flowers 4- or 5-merous; sepals irregularly 1/4–3/4-united. Pods somewhat tightly and irregularly coiled, to 1 cm long (unexpanded), 2.5 mm wide, thinly coriaceous, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, turgid, widely elliptic to widely ovate, obliquely truncate adjacent to aril, 2–2.5 mm long, semi-shiny, dark brown.

Habitat

Grows in gravelly clay loam, loam, sand or shallow sand over clay loam, in Wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo) woodland and frequently on disturbed roadsides.

Specimens

W.A.: Dongolocking Rd near Wagin, R.S.Cowan A850 & R.A.Cowan (CANB, K, NY, PERTH, US); 8 km W of Corrigin, H.Demarz 11073 (PERTH); 5 km N of Tambellup towards Broomehill, B.R.Maslin 4004 (PERTH); 3.5 km NW of Ongerup, K.Newbey 975 (PERTH).

Notes

Allied to A. acanthoclada and A. ferocior. Superficially similar to A. acanthaster.

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