Daviesia ramosissima Crisp (1995: 1226)

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

114. Daviesia ramosissima Crisp (1995: 1226) . Type: Western Australia, Irwin, Kalbarri–Ajana road, 27 miles [43 km] SE of Kalbarri, R.V. Smith 66/369, 8 September 1966. Holotype: MEL 606416 ; isotypes: MEL 606417 , PERTH

Much-branched, intricate shrubs, to 1.2 m high and broad, glabrous, glaucescent. Root anatomy unknown. Branchlets divaricate, arching, terete, smooth when fresh, wrinkled-striate when dry. Phyllodes scattered, divaricate, terete, needle-like, apex acicular, pungent, base articulate, 5–43 mm long, ca. 1 mm diam., smooth when fresh, wrinkled-striate when dry, rigid. Unit inflorescences 1 per axil, racemose, 2–8-flowered; peduncle striate, 1.5–4 mm long; rachis flexuose, striate, 2–11 mm long; barren basal bracts numerous, clustered around the base of the peduncle, or if peduncle> ca. 3 mm, spread along peduncle up to 0.5 mm long; subtending bracts recurved to spreading, oblong, ca. 0.75 mm long. Pedicels dilated distally, striate, 2–8 mm long. Calyx flared just below lobes, 4–5 mm long including the 1.25–2 mm receptacle; upper 2 lobes united into a narrow, truncate lip, ca. 0.75 mm long; lower 3 lobes triangular, ca. 0.5 mm long; occasionally lobes appearing equal. Corolla : standard very broadly ovate, emarginate, 11.5–12.5 × 8–11 mm including the 1–2 mm claw, with 2 small, narrow calli at the base of the lamina that are not always apparent, orange-yellow with a red central ring; wings obliquely obovate with a rounded, incurved apex, overlapping to clasp and enclose the keel, auriculate, 10–10.5 × 3.5–4.25 mm including the 2–2.5 mm claw, red; keel half very broadly ovate, apex incurved and beaked, auriculate, saccate, ca. 9 × 2.75–3 mm including the 4–4.5 mm claw. Stamens weakly dimorphic: inner whorl of 5 with longer, narrower filaments and shorter, subdorsifixed anthers; outer whorl of 5 with shorter filaments and longer, basifixed anthers; filaments all somewhat compressed, cohering towards base; anthers all 2-celled. Pod obliquely very broadly to shallowly obtriangular, acuminate to acute, turgid, thick-walled, 12–15 × 9.5–12 mm, purplish grey; upper suture straight to slightly curved downwards; lower suture acute. Seed not seen. ( Fig. 115 ).

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CRISP ET AL.

Flowering period:— July to September. Fruiting period: Only specimen fruiting in September.

Distribution:— Western Australia, from Kalbarri National Park south to near Mingenew.

Habitat:— Gravelly sand over laterite on sandplains in kwongan heath.

Additional specimens examined:— WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Irwin: 40 km NW of Highway 1 along road to Kalbarri , 27°45’S, 114°23’E, M . D. Crisp 6262 et al., 30 September 1979 ( CANB, MEL, NSW, PERTH); 43 km E of Kalbarri , 27°49’S, 114°28’E, A. S . George 7932, 8 September 1966 ( PERTH); Kalbarri National Park , 27°40’S, 114°25’E, A . Kanis 1547, 8 August 1973 ( CANB); 39 km from Kalbarri on track to gorge, A. R . Fairall 1238, 5 September 1963 ( PERTH); Murchison’s River , F. J. H . von Mueller s.n., October 1877 ( MEL 81291 ); north of Irwin [River] on Mt [Horner West] Road, 29°13’S, 115°05’E, A. M . Ashby 3849, 6 July 1971 ( AD, UMO, ZT); 23 km E of Dongara on Mingenew Road , 29°13’S, 115°09’E, C. E . Woolcock D233 & D. T . Woolcock, 20 August 1982 ( CBG) .

A MONOGRAPH OF DAVIESIA

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Affinity:— This species belongs to the D. incrassata group, with which it shares turgid pods, a distinctive calyx and a beaked keel. Its flowers are among the largest in that group, being exceeded only by D. grossa and D. glossosema , and equalled by D. inflata . The vegetative appearance of D. grossa is very different, with thick (> 1.5 mm), glaucous, erect phyllodes. In D. glossosema , which has a similar divaricating, arching growth habit, the standard is narrow, and the flowers are in pendulous umbelliform racemes and maroon in colour. In D. inflata , the phyllodes are more ascending (mostly at 45–60°) than in D. ramosissima and have recurved tips, and the branchlets are fewer and ascending rather than divaricate and recurved.

Other taxa in the D. incrassata group have a vegetative appearance similar to that of D. ramosissima . One of these, D. incrassata subsp. reversifolia , differs in having the phyllodes continuous, not articulate, with the branchlets. Another, D. retrorsa , has only slightly turgid pods, an acute rather than beaked keel, inner stamens with confluent anther thecae, and phyllodes often reduced to scales over much of the plant.

Figures

FIGURE 115. Daviesia ramosissima. A. Flowering branchlet. B. Inflorescence. C. Pod. A from George 7392; B, C from Crisp 6262. Drawn by A.L. Prowse. Adapted from Crisp (1995) with permission from CSIRO Publishing.