Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

A poorly known entity that appears to be most common in the vicinity of Lake Torrens and the NW edge of the Flinders Ra., S.A., and also near Blyth Ra., W.A. (near the S.A. border).

Description

Small tree to c. 5 m high, crown spreading. Branchlets appressed puberulous. Phyllodes ±terete to flat, linear, ±pungent, (30–) 35–95 (–115) mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, rather rigid, straight to shallowly incurved, sometimes with few longitudinally sulcate when dry, minutely appressed puberulous; multistriate with numerous, closely parallel, rather obscure nerves. Inflorescences rudimentary few-branched racemes to 3 mm long; peduncles 4–10 mm long, appressed puberulous; receptacle puberulous, the hairs yellow; heads globular, (16–) 20–30 (–34)-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; calyx gamosepalous, dissected for ¼ or more into broadly triangular lobes. Pods (slightly immature) narrowly oblong, scarcely raised over seeds or constricted between them, to 6 cm long, 5–7 mm wide, straight to shallowly curved, thinly coriaceous, minutely appressed puberulous, finely openly reticulate. Seeds (slightly immature) longitudinal, flattened.

Habitat

Appears to be restricted to low rocky hills.

Specimens

W.A.: nr Blyth Ra., 1898, W.V.Fitzgerald s.n. (PERTH). S.A.: 2 km N of Lane Dam, Bosworth Stn, F.J.Badman 5073 (AD, PERTH); Mount Lyndhurst, M.Koch 274 (AD, BM, DBN, K, M, NSW, PERTH: this collecting number includes specimens gathered in Oct. 1898, Sept. 1899 and Nov. 1899).

Notes

Further field and laboratory studies are needed to determine the status of this taxon. It is clearly related to A. papyrocarpa but differs most obviously in having rather rigid, often subterete, ±pungent phyllodes and minutely appressed hairy pods.

This taxon was discussed under A. papyrocarpa by R.S.Cowan & B.R.Maslin, Fl. Australia 108 (2001). It was treated as a distinct entity by B.R.Maslin, Fl. Central Australia 137 (1981), and B.R.Maslin & M.O’Leary, WATTLE Acacias of Australia CD-ROM (2001); also, the description of A. papyrocarpa provided by J.Black, Fl. S. Australia, 2nd edn, pt. 2: 423 (1948), was based in part on the M.Koch 274 collection cited above.

FOA Reference

Flora of Australia Project

Author

B.R.Maslin, M.O'Leary