Family

Fabaceae

Distribution

Known only from Tangadee, Landor, Erong Springs and Dalgety Downs Stns, (c. 250 km N to NW of Meekatharra) W.A.

Description

Much-branched glabrous shrub, 2–4 m high. Branchlets ascending to erect, terete, obscurely nerved, pale green when young, ageing greyish, often coarsely spinose. Phyllodes resembling branchlets, erect, terete, mostly 5–14 cm long, 1.5–2 mm diam., acute, coarsely pungent, thick, colour as on branchlets, very obscurely 4-nerved. Inflorescences simple and arising within the axil of phyllodes on new shoots or in racemes with axes 1–3 cm long; peduncles commonly twinned, 5–25 mm long; heads globular, 24–27-flowered. Flowers 5-merous; sepals united into a ±truncate calyx. Pods linear, to 10.5 cm long, 4–6 mm wide, thinly coriaceous, dark brown. Seeds (slightly immature) longitudinal, broadly elliptic to broadly ovate, c. 4 mm long; aril pale yellow.

Habitat

Grows along watercourses and adjacent stony plains and low stony hills, in open or closed scrub.

Specimens

W.A.: Tangadee Stn, c. 5 km NE of HS on track to Ilgarari Outcamp, B.R.Maslin 5288 (CANB, G, MEL, NSW, PERTH); 20 km E of Dalgety Downs HS, A.A.Mitchell 1552 (CANB, PERTH).

Notes

Similar in habit and branchlets to A. exocarpoides and A. microcalyx but distinguished by its relatively long, terete, thick phyllodes.

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

Minor edits by J.Rogers