Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Restricted to serpentine ridges in rugged country of the Great Divide from Bralga Tops on the upper Barnard R. to Mt George, some 70 km to the SE, N.S.W.

Description

Spreading shrub 1–1.5 m high. Branchlets glabrous. Phyllodes ascending to erect, linear, narrowed at base, straight to shallowly incurved, flat, mostly 5–10 cm long, (1.5–) 2-4 (–5) mm wide, ±subrigid, finely longitudinally sulcate when dry, obtuse-mucronate with ±pungent point, glabrous; midrib slightly impressed when dry; gland 4–10 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences simple or rudimentary 1-headed racemes with axes c. 1 mm long, 1–3 per axil; peduncles 5–11 mm long, glabrous, basal bract persistent; flower-heads golden. Flowers 5-merous; sepals free, linear-spathulate. Pods linear, straight-edged to slightly constricted between the seeds, to 7 cm long, 2.5–4 mm wide, firmly chartaceous to thinly coriaceous, dark reddish brown, glabrous. Seeds longitudinal, oblong, 3–3.5mm long, mottled black and dull yellow, ±exarillate.

Phenology

Flowers mainly Aug.–Oct.

Specimens

N.S.W.: Watchimbark Ck, 6.4 km NW of Myra HS, D.Blaxell & R.Coveny 573 (K, MEL, NSW, P, RSA, TNS); Bralga Tops, Glenrock Stn, Upper Barnard R., 4 Sept. 1980, J.C.Turner (NSW); Mt George, 13 Oct. 1973, A.Vinnicombe (NSW).

Notes

A member of the ‘A. juncifolia group’. It was treated as a subspecies of the widespread A. juncifolia by B.R.Maslin, Fl. Australia 11A: 369 (2001), which is most readily distinguished by its phyllodes that are narrower (c. 1 mm wide), not often flat, generally longer (all or mostly more than 10 cm long) and not pungent.

FOA Reference

Flora of Australia Project

Author

B.R.Maslin

B.R.Maslin