Daviesia preissii Meisner (1844: 50)

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

124. Daviesia preissii Meisner (1844: 50) , Bentham (1864: 84), Crisp (1987a: 253), Crisp (1995: 1222), Wheeler et al. (2002: 745). Type: ‘In sublimoso-glareosis prope praedium rusticum D. Hassel (Hay) m. Febr. 1841. Herb. Preiss. No. 1153.’ Lectotype (Crisp 1995: 1222): NY (incorrectly annotated ‘holotype’ by M.D.C.); isolectotype: G (2 sheets), LD, MEL (2 sheets), MO

Shrubs, often low and spreading, 0.3–1 m high and to 1 m across, glabrous, dull green. Root anatomy with anomalous secondary thickening (cord type). Branchlets ascending, terete to slightly compressed, with blunt angles, wrinkled-striate when dry. Phyllodes scattered, diverging at 60–90°, vertically compressed, straight or slightly incurved or recurved, subulate or obliquely narrowly obovate to elliptic, apex acuminate, pungent, base cuneate, truncate, with a slightly thickened articulation, 10–40 × 0.75–5 mm, striate (obscure when fresh, clearly evident when dry). Unit inflorescences 1 per axil, 1- or 2-flowered; peduncle ca. 0.5–2.5 mm long; subtending bracts oblong, apex fimbriate, ca. 1 mm long. Pedicel 1.5–5.5 mm long, gently thickening towards the apex. Calyx 3–4.5 mm long including the 0.5–1.5 mm receptacle; lobes narrowly triangular, attenuate with subulate tips, ca. 1.5 mm long; upper 2 lobes united higher than the lower 3. Corolla : standard very broadly elliptic to very broadly obovate, apically rounded to obtusely peaked, not emarginate, 7.5–10 × 6.5–8 mm including the ca. 1 mm claw, with a prominent central groove, 2 calli present at the base of the lamina, yellow with red infusion near the centre; wings obliquely narrowly obovate with a rounded apex, strongly auriculate, auricles sometimes hooked, 7.5–12 × 2–2.25 mm including the 1–1.5 mm claw, red; keel half elliptic, acute, upper margins of lamina not or slightly rolled but never as far as the apex, slightly saccate, 8–8.5 × 2.5–3 mm including the ca. 2 mm claw, red. Stamens moderately dimorphic: inner whorl of 5 with longer, angular-terete filaments and shorter, subversatile anthers; outer whorl of 5 with shorter, compressed filaments and longer, basifixed anthers; filaments cohering, free; anthers all 2-celled. Pod obliquely very broadly to shallowly obtriangular, acute, with a persistent style, swollen towards the base but compressed at the margins and at the apex, 12–21 × 8.5–12 mm; upper suture sigmoid to obtuse; lower suture acute to obtuse. Seed ellipsoid, ca. 3.3 mm long, 1.9 mm broad, 1.7 mm thick, black; aril ca. 1 mm long. ( Fig. 125 ).

Flowering period:— Any time of the year, mainly in summer. Fruiting period: July to January.

Distribution:— Western Australia, throughout the Darling Range, the far south-west and east to Albany and the Stirling Range.

Habitat:— Lateritic soils, chiefly sandy or loamy, though occasionally clayey sand, in Eucalyptus marginata dominated open forest, or in kwongan heathland.

Selected specimens (81 examined):— WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Avon: 20 km past Keenan College towards New Norcia, 31°09’S, 116°11’E, N . Carriage 99 & P . Ollerenshaw, 4 October 1975 ( CBG); Cunderdin , 31°39’S, 117°14’E, J. B . Cleland s.n., September 1908 ( NSW 34886 ). Darling: Serpentine, 32°11’S, 115°43’E, W. V . Fitzgerald s.n., September 1901 ( NSW 34882 ); Scarp Road, S of Serpentine Pipehead Dam , 32°25’S, 116°04’E, M. G . Corrick 9391, 2 November 1984 ( CANB, HO, MEL); 9 km NW of Williams along the Albany Highway , 32°58’S, 116°49’E, J . Taylor 2118 & P . Ollerenshaw, 22 September 1983 ( CBG); near Bowelling , 33°25’S, 116°29’E, A. R . Fairall 1737, 29 November 1965 ( PERTH); 4 km SE of Porongurup , 34°41’S, 117°57’E, M . D. Crisp 5226, 17 January 1979 ( AD, CBG, NSW, PERTH); 11 km from Nannup along road to Busselton ,

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CRISP ET AL.

33°54’S, 115°44’E, M . D. Crisp 5359, 21 January 1979 ( AD, CBG, MEL, PERTH); Mount Barker townsite , 34°39’S, 117°39’E, R . D. Royce 6787, 29 January 1962 ( PERTH). Eyre: Boxwood Hill–Toompup road, 13 km NW from Chillilup Pool turnoff , 34°16’S, 118°30’E, M . D. Crisp 5164, 15 January 1979 ( CBG, K, PERTH); Stirlings , C. E . Woolcock D 44, 29 July 1981 ( CBG); south of the Stirling Range, F. J. H . von Mueller s.n., 2 October 1867 ( MEL 80365 ) .

A MONOGRAPH OF DAVIESIA

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Affinity:— Daviesia preissii is often confused with D. angulata or D. spinosissima . Daviesia angulata differs in having sharp ridges along the branchlets when dry (the ridges are bluntly angular in fresh material), the inflorescences are 2–4-flowered, with a longer peduncle (2–6 mm), smaller flowers (e.g. standard 6–7 × 5–7.5 mm) and broader, shorter (ca. 0.5 mm) calyx lobes. Daviesia spinosissima has phyllodes that spread at right angles and are very crowded, with bases overlapping along the stem; also, the base of the standard lamina lacks calli and instead has saccae on the abaxial side.

Figures

FIGURE 125. Daviesia preissii. A. flowering branchlet. B, C. Phyllodes, showing variation. D. Inflorescence. E. Pod. A, D from Crisp 5164; B, E from Mueller s.n. (MEL 80365); C from Crisp 5226. Drawn by A.L. Prowse.