Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Frequent and locally common from near Ongerup E to Ravensthorpe, S to Beaufort Inlet and Fitzgerald River Natl Park in south-western W.A.

Description

Spreading shrub 1–2 m high. Branchlets apically angled and resinous, not viscid, glabrous. Phyllodes linear- to oblong-elliptic, usually 3–7 cm long, 4–7 (–11) mm wide, obtuse to acute, apiculate, coriaceous, glabrous, resinous when young, with 1 or 2 main nerves arising from pulvinus and a number of parallel distant ±less prominent and sparingly anastomosing secondary nerves in between; gland to 2 mm above pulvinus. Inflorescences 1- or 2-headed racemes; raceme axes 1–7 mm long; peduncles (3–) 5–9 (–14) mm long, glabrous or with scattered glandular papillae; heads globular to short-obloid, 4–6 mm diam., 25–32-flowered, lemon-yellow. Flowers 4-merous; sepals 1/3–3/4-united, glandular-ciliolate. Pods linear, raised over seeds, straight to shallowly curved, to 7.5 cm long, 2.5–3.5 mm wide, thin-coriaceous, glabrous, ±resinous. Seeds longitudinal, elliptic-oblong, 4–4.5 mm long, subglossy, brown; aril apical.

Habitat

Usually occurs in Eucalyptus low woodland, in sandy and skeletal soils on spongolite breakaways, and often along creeks and rivers.

Specimens

W.A.: Beaufort Inlet, c. 45 km W of Bremer Bay, M.McDonald 1319 (MEL, PERTH); Boat Harbour, K.Newbey 3258 (PERTH); 22 km NNE of Ongerup, K.Newbey 4767 (AD, BRI, CANB, K, MEL, NSW, NY, PERTH); Roe’s Rock, Fitzgerald R. Natl Park, R.D.Royce 8996 (PERTH).

Notes

A member of the ‘A. flavipila group’, and perhaps most closely related to A. lanei and A. ixiophylla, both of which have pentamerous flowers and free sepals; it also superficially resembles A. pelophila.

The Newbey 4767 collection from NNE of Ongerup represents the most northern occurrence of the species, and has unusually short phyllodes (20–25 mm long) and short peduncles (c. 3 mm long).

FOA Reference

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volumes 11A (2001), 11B (2001) and 12 (1998), products of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia

Author

Minor edits by J.Reid

R.S.Cowan, B.R.Maslin