Daviesia uncinata Crisp (1995: 1243)

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

102. Daviesia uncinata Crisp (1995: 1243) . Type: Western Australia, Avon [approximate locality data given because the species is rare]: E of Quairading , 32’S, 117°40’E, M. D. Crisp 5511, 27 January 1979. Holotype: CBG; isotypes: AD, G, K, NSW, PERTH

A MONOGRAPH OF DAVIESIA

Phytotaxa 300 (1) © 2017 Magnolia Press • 229 Intricate, multi-stemmed shrubs, to 0.7 m high and 1 m broad, glabrous, glaucescent. Root anatomy with anomalous secondary thickening (cord type). Branchlets ascending, terete, flexuose, smooth when fresh, striate

230 • Phytotaxa 300 (1) © 2017 Magnolia Press

CRISP ET AL.

when dry. Phyllodes scattered, ascending at 30–60°, terete or vertically compressed, apex uncinate, acuminate or acicular, pungent, base inarticulate and continuous with the branchlet, 5–70 × 1–2 mm, smooth when fresh, striate when dry. Unit inflorescences 1 per axil, racemose or slightly paniculate, 2–several-flowered; peduncle 1–4 mm long; rachis flexuose, 0.5–8.5 mm long; subtending bracts appressed, oblong, up to 1 mm long. Pedicels 1–1.5 mm long. Calyx narrowly campanulate, 2.5–3.5 mm long including the ca. 1 mm receptacle; upper 2 lobes united in a truncate lip, ca. 1 mm long; lower 3 lobes triangular, ca. 0.5–0.75 mm long. Corolla : standard very broadly obovate, emarginate, 6–7 × 4–5 mm including the ca. 1.5 mm claw, callose, rich yellow with dark pinkish red markings; wings narrowly obovate, apex rounded and incurved to partially enclose the keel, auriculate, 5.5–6 × 1.5–1.75 mm including the 1–1.5 mm claw, pinkish red; keel half narrowly elliptic, uncinate, supervolute and acicular at the tip, auriculate, saccate, 5.5–6.5 × 1.5 mm including the 1–1.5 mm claw, enclosing stamens even after anthesis, pinkish red with a blackish tip. Stamens weakly dimorphic: inner whorl of 5 with longer filaments and shorter, subversatile anthers; outer whorl of 5 with shorter filaments and longer, basifixed anthers; anthers all 2- celled; filaments all compressed and lightly cohering. Style uncinate. Pod obliquely shallowly obtriangular, tapered to the long acute apex, compressed, 11–15 × 6.5–8 mm; upper suture slightly sigmoid; lower suture acute. Seed very broadly obovoid, ca. 4 mm long, 3 mm broad, 2.5 mm thick; aril ca. 3 mm long. ( Fig. 103 ).

Flowering period:— October to January. Fruiting period: July to February.

Distribution:— Western Australia, south-central wheatbelt, within the area delimited by Kellerberrin, Piesseville and Lake Magenta.

Habitat:— Grows in sandy soil, sometimes loamy or gravelly, often on sandplains or claypans, in mixed kwongan heathland with Allocasuarina , Banksia and Verticordia among the more dominant genera.

Conservation status:— National: Not listed. WA: Priority 3, possibly threatened or near-threatened but not yet adequately surveyed.

Selected specimens (16 examined):— Approximate locality data are given because the species is rare. WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Avon: S of Tammin , 31°50’S, 117°30’E, M . D. Crisp 5504, 27 January 1979 ( CBG, L, MEL, PERTH, US); ibid., R . D. Royce 9418, 13 November 1970 ( CBG, PERTH); S of Quairading , 32°20’S, 117°20’E, M . D. Crisp 6184, et al., 27 September 1979 ( CBG, PERTH). Roe : E of Pingaring, 32°50’S, 119°107’E, M . D. Crisp 5548, 29 January 1979 ( AD, CBG, K, MO, PERTH); E of Newdegate , 33°10’S, 118°50’E, A . S . George 2269, 14 December 1960 ( PERTH); between Lake Grace and Newdegate , 32°40’S, 119°E, C . A . Gardner 1371 & W . E . Blackall, 19 November 1931 ( PERTH) .

Affinity:— Daviesia uncinata is characterised above all by its uncinate phyllodes, for which it is named. The stamens of D. uncinata are all 2-celled, a widespread character in the genus ( Pate et al. 1989); however, the loculi are opposed (back to back) on either side of the connective, which appears to be a distinctive feature of this species. Daviesia rhizomata is superficially similar but differs in its extensively rhizomatous growth habit, patent to retrorse phyllodes with a straight to gently recurved apex, 1-flowered unit inflorescences, larger flowers (e.g. calyx 4–5 mm long, standard 7–9 mm broad) and a keel with a straight, non-acicular tip that drops away to expose the stamens. Another species with a recurved phyllode apex is D. hamata , but it differs in having shorter phyllodes (mostly 2–10 mm long), and in being winter-flowering ( D. uncinata flowers in summer).

Figures

FIGURE 103. Daviesia uncinata. A. Flowering branchlet. B. Inflorescence. C. Pod. A, B from Crisp 5511 (type); C from Crisp 6184. Drawn by A.L. Prowse. Adapted from Crisp (1995) with permission from CSIRO Publishing.