Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from the type locality, south-western W.A.

Description

Dwarf subshrub 0.3–0.5 m high, glabrous. Branchlets prominently ribbed. Stipules shallowly triangular, c. 0.5 mm long. Phyllodes crowded, erect, elliptic to obovate, 20–30 mm long, 9–13 mm wide, obtuse, thin, green, 1-nerved or imperfectly 2-nerved; lateral nerves few and obscure; gland not prominent, 4–7 mm above base. Inflorescences simple, mostly 1 per axil; peduncles 4–7 mm long; heads globular, 3- or 4-flowered, white, drying orange; buds ±4-angled. Flowers 4-merous, large; sepals 1/5 length of corolla, united into a truncate to sinuolately lobed calyx. Pods retrorse by a strongly recurved stipe, narrowly oblong, acute, to 30 mm long, 3–4 mm wide, crustaceous; margins thick. Seeds longitudinal, oblong to elliptic, 4–5 mm long, shiny, dark brown, arillate.

Phenology

Flowers from about Nov. to Mar.

Habitat

It is confined to 3 adjacent laterite ridges in Eucalyptus woodland.

Specimens

W.A.: type locality, K.F.Kenneally 5891 (BRI, MEL, NSW, NY, PERTH) and B.R.Maslin 4804 (PERTH).

Notes

A member of the ‘A. myrtifolia group’ seemingly allied to A. disticha which is a taller shrub occurring c. 450 km S of the range of A. pygmaea and has obviously flattened branchlet-extremities with distichously arranged phyllodes and 6- or 7-flowered, cream-coloured heads on peduncles 7–11 mm long. Seemingly also related to A. obovata and A. nervosa which are both dwarf members of this group.

Conservation

Gazetted a rare species in W.A.

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