Daviesia smithiorum Crisp (1995: 1235)

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

92. Daviesia smithiorum Crisp (1995: 1235) . Type: Western Australia, Avon [approximate locality data given because the species is rare]: Dowerin–Wyalcatchem area , 31°10’S, 117°10’E, B.H. Smith 848, 27 June 1987. Holotype: CBG; isotypes: K, NSW, PERTH

Shrubs with many stems from a tap-root, to 0.5 m high, glabrous, glaucous to pruinose. Root anatomy unknown. Branchlets scattered, erect to ascending at 45°, striate when dry, pruinose, especially towards the base. Phyllodes scattered, ascending at 10–45 (80)°, terete, rather slender, gently tapered from base to apex, apically uncinate and pungent, inarticulate and continuous with branchlet, 10–50(–100) mm long, 0.5–1 mm diam. at base, striate at least when dry, glaucous. Unit inflorescences 1 per axil, condensed racemes, 2–4-flowered; peduncle ca. 1 mm long; rachis short (<2 mm) and covered by bracts; barren basal bracts forming an involucre, ca. 1–1.5 mm long; subtending bracts not or scarcely spreading, imbricate and enclosing inflorescence, spathulate, cupped with incurved margins, ca. 4 × 1.5 mm, faintly striate, not fused to the base of the pedicels, yellow-brown. Pedicels

A MONOGRAPH OF DAVIESIA

Phytotaxa 300 (1) © 2017 Magnolia Press • 207 2.5–5 mm long. Calyx ca. 2.5 mm long including the ca. 0.5 mm receptacle; tips of lobes and sinuses paler than body of calyx; lobes well developed, upper 2 lobes broadly triangular, united higher than lower 3, ca. 0.5 mm long; lower 3 lobes acute or acuminate, ca. 0.5 mm long. Corolla yellow-orange or orange, with red markings: standard

208 • Phytotaxa 300 (1) © 2017 Magnolia Press

CRISP ET AL.

transversely broadly elliptic, emarginate, 6.5 × 6–7 mm including the 1.5 mm claw, slightly thickened about central groove; wings narrowly spathulate, rounded and incurved at apex, enclosing the keel, auriculate, ca. 5.5 × 2 mm including the 1.5 mm claw; keel half broadly elliptic, acute, abaxially slightly roughened, scarcely auriculate, saccate, ca. 5.5 × 1.75 mm including the 1.5 mm claw. Stamens strongly dimorphic: inner whorl of 5 with longer, slender, terete filaments and shorter, round, versatile anthers with confluent thecae; outer whorl of 5 with shorter, broader, compressed filaments and longer, oblong, basifixed, 2-celled anthers; filaments free; vexillary filament narrow (like others of inner whorl), but channelled. Pod obliquely shallowly obtriangular, acute, compressed, 15– 17 × 10–11 mm, purplish; upper suture sigmoid; lower suture acute. Seed not seen. ( Fig. 92 ).

Flowering period:— June. Fruiting period: October and November.

Distribution:— Western Australia, north-central wheatbelt, restricted to the Dowerin–Wyalcatchem area.

Habitat:— Grows in white sand in heath with Acacia , Allocasuarina , Conospermum Smith (1798: 213) , Grevillea , Melaleuca and Verticordia .

Conservation status:— National: Not listed. WA: Priority 2, possibly threatened or near-threatened but not yet adequately surveyed.

Selected specimens (14 examined):— Approximate locality data are given because the species is rare. WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Avon: Dowerin–Wyalcatchem area , 31°10’S, 117°10’E, B. H . Smith 1028, 21 November 1987 ( CBG, PERTH); ibid., M .D. Crisp 9029 & W. Keys, 26 October 1996 ( CBG, PERTH); ibid., B. H . Smith 653, 15 June 1986 ( CBG, MEL); ibid., 31°20’S, 117°10’E, B. H . Smith 1032, 21 November 1987 ( CBG); ibid., B. H . Smith 1034, 21 November 1987 ( CBG) .

Affinity:— This species belongs to a group related to D. hakeoides with moderately enlarged, shell-shaped, usually striate bracts that are imbricate and cover the rachis ( Crisp 1982a; 1984), and is most similar to D. debilior subsp. debilior , D. hakeoides subsp. hakeoides , D. major and D. pseudaphylla . It differs from all these in having glaucous to pruinose stems and uncinate phyllodes (some of these species can be glaucous, however); moreover, in D. debilior and D. pseudaphylla , the phyllodes are not pungent. Additional distinguishing features of D. debilior are the suppression of phyllodes at the branchlet apex, smaller bracts (subtending bracts ca. 3 mm long) and flowers (e.g. calyx 1.5–2 mm long). Daviesia hakeoides subsp. hakeoides differs further from D. smithiorum in having a pod that is somewhat turgid, bluntly beaked and not purplish. Daviesia major is further distinguished by having reflexed subtending bracts, acuminate calyx-lobes, each with a pale stripe, a larger standard (11–12 mm broad), and a viscid pod. Daviesia pseudaphylla is coarser in all its vegetative parts, the phyllodes are neither uncinate nor pungent, and its habit is procumbent, but otherwise it appears closely related to D. smithiorum ; in particular, the floral parts and pod are very similar.

Figures

FIGURE 92. Daviesia smithiorum. Holotype. Photograph provided by the Curator of CANB.