Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Tree 7–30 m high, normally with a straight bole that may occupy over half of the total tree height.

Stems: Bark rough, longitudinally furrowed, pale grey to dark brown. Branchlets stout, acutely angled, brown, fawn or green, glabrous, sometimes scurfy.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple, modified into phyllodes. Alternate. Phyllodes obliquely narrowly elliptic to obovate, sometimes ± dimidiate with substraight lower edge and clearly convex upper edge, 11–27 (–37) cm long, 23–100 mm wide. Blades thinly coriaceous or papery, dark green, glabrous. (3–) 4 (–5) prominent longitudinal veins (some or all running together at base of phyllode, but not confluent with lower margin), minor veins strongly anastomosing to form a fine reticulum, with elongated vein-islands. Gland 1–4.5 mm above pulvinus, an additional gland sometimes present at or near base of apical point of phyllode.

Flowers: Inflorescences normally comprising 1 or 2 spikes within axils of phyllodes; spikes 5–12 cm long, loosely arranged, white to cream-coloured; peduncles 6–10 mm long, minutely hairy. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx of 5 sepals; calyx 0.6–0.8 mm long, dissected to ⅕–¼ of length, pubescent. Corolla of 5 petals; corolla 1.8–2 mm long, dissected to ½ its length, with glabrous petals. Ovary superior, densely hairy.

Fruit: Pods ± irregularly coiled and twisted or sometimes tightly spirally coiled; 3–6 mm wide; coriaceous to subwoody; glabrous. Seeds longitudinal; oblong-elliptic to slightly reniform; 3.5–5 mm long; 2–3 mm wide; black; minutely pitted; areole almost closed; funicle folded beneath the seed; expanded into a bright yellow or orange (rarely red) aril.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: