Daviesia abnormis Mueller (1860: 106)

Crisp, Michael D., Cayzer, Lindy, Chandler, Gregory T. & Cook, Lyn G., 2017, A monograph of Daviesia (Mirbelieae, Faboideae, Fabaceae), Phytotaxa 300 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

39. Daviesia abnormis Mueller (1860: 106) , Crisp (1995: 1169). Type : Ad sinum South-West Bay Novae Hollandiae austro-occidentalis. Mxw.’ Holotype: MEL 84070 ; isotypes: K, PERTH)

Latrobea pungens Bentham (1864: 140) , nom. superfl. & illeg.— D. abnormis F.Muell. given as a synonym. Latrobea abnormis (F.Muell.) Druce (1917: 631) .

Shrubs, 0.3–0.7 m high, with corky bark, densely hirsute (white to buff on branchlets and grey on phyllodes) or rarely glabrous. Root anatomy unknown. Branchlets unarmed, ascending, terete, ribbed. Phyllodes crowded near branchlet apex, erect to appressed, folded upwards longitudinally and slightly recurved towards the apex, narrowly elliptic to narrowly obovate, apically acuminate and pungent, basally cuneate and articulate, 13–23 × 3–8 mm. Unit inflorescences 1(2) in the axils, 1-flowered, shorter than and almost hidden by phyllodes; peduncle nil; subtending bracts keeled, spreading, ca. 1 mm long. Pedicels 1–3 mm long. Calyx 4–5 mm including the 0.5–1.5 mm receptacle; upper 2 lobes united in a truncate lip, ca. 1 mm long; lower 3 lobes triangular, ca. 1 mm long. Corolla yellow with faint red markings: standard broadly elliptic, emarginate, 11–13 × 8–10 mm including the 3–4 mm claw; wings obovate to narrowly so with a rounded apex, auriculate, ca. 9–11 × 3 mm including the 2.5–3 mm claw; keel half transversely broadly ovate, acute, saccate, 10–11 × 2.5–3 mm including the 3–4 mm claw. Stamens strongly dimorphic: inner whorl of 5 with longer, slender filaments and shorter, rounded, versatile anthers with confluent thecae; outer whorl of 5 with shorter, broader, compressed filaments and longer, basifixed, 2-celled anthers; filaments free. Pod obliquely very shallowly obtriangular, acuminate, 11–13 × 5.5–6.5 mm; upper suture slightly sigmoid; lower suture acute but strongly rounded. Seed ellipsoid, 3.5–4 mm long, 2.5 mm wide, 1.5–2 mm thick, light orange-brown with or without black mottling; aril 1.7–2 mm long. ( Fig. 37 ).

Flowering period:— March and April. Fruiting period: Unknown.

Distribution:— Western Australia, from near Kulin, east to Dragon Rocks, and south to the Stirling Range area and Fitzgerald River National Park.

Habitat:— Found in sand, often with quartzite, in mallee-heathland (kwongan) dominated e.g. by Eucalyptus pleurocarpa , E. marginata and E. decipiens Endlicher (1837: 49) , with Allocasuarina and Hakea dominant in the heath layer.

Selected specimens (17 examined):— WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Roe: 368 km on the Lake Grace – Ravensthorpe road, E . M . Scrymgeour 407, 8 April 1966 ( PERTH) . Eyre: Boxwood Hills–Toompup road, 7 km NW of the Chillinup Pool turnoff, 34°18’S, 118°33’E, M . D. Crisp 6135 et al., 25 September 1979 ( CBG, PERTH); N end of the Whoogarup Range, Fitzgerald River Reserve , 33°57’S, 119°53’E, A . S . George 11288, 17 March 1972 ( CANB, PERTH) .

Affinity:— The distinctive appearance of this species, with its corky bark, crowded hirsute phyllodes and cryptic inflorescences, make it unlikely to be confused with any other in the genus—so much so that its only taxonomic synonym was assigned to another genus. Daviesia nudiflora can be similar but lacks corky bark, the phyllodes spread more widely and are almost always glabrous (sparely hisute in the otherwise dissimilar subsp. hirtella ), the flowers are more exposed and conspicuous, richly yellow to slightly orange in colour with conspicuous dark red to maroon markings, and there are calli on the standard.

Figures

FIGURE 37. Daviesia abnormis. A. Flowering branchlet. B. Inflorescence (1-flowered). C. Pod. A, B from George 11288; C from Crisp 6135. Drawn by B-J. Osborne.