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Leguminosae
Description
A hardy perennial legume with short, erect, ascending or decumbent,
non-twining stems arising from a fibrous, woody root-stock. Leaves digitately
trifoliate. Petioles 1.5 to 7 cm long, stoutish. Stipules lanceolate, coriaceous,
strongly several nerved. Leaflets oblong to long-lanceolate or occasionally
oval, grey-green, thick and coriaceous, 1 to 6 cm long, 5 to 20 mm wide,
obtuse, usually apiculate, tapering at the base, strigose beneath, sparingly
so above, conspicuously net veined beneath. Petiolules very short (1 mm
or less), stout and hispid. Racemes axillary, much more so than the leaves,
rather loosely two- to ten-flowered, 1 to 6 cm long, on stout peduncles
2 to 12 cm long. Flowers 5.5 to 6.5 mm long on stoutish pedicels (1 to
1.5 mm long) that are shorter than the calyx, inserted singly on the rachis.
Calyx 3.5 to 4 mm long, the teeth lanceolate to subulate, equalling or
slightly exceeding the tube, the upper pair free above the middle. Corolla
light blue to pale mauve, the standard narrowly obovate, slightly exceeding
the wings. Keel much shorter than the wings. Pods reflexed, falcate, 15
to 20 mm long, 4 mm wide, biconvex, two- to three-seeded, the valves rigid,
with a rigid apiculation, 2 mm long. Seeds oblong to ovoid-oblong, sometimes
truncate at one end, 4 to 4.5 by 2 mm, olive-green to brown mottled with
purple, with a smooth, glossy or dull surface (Hermann, 1962).
Distribution
Native to northern Australia, Queensland and South Australia
and the northern interior of New South Wales.
Main features
Grows only from spring till autumn, whenever rain occurs. Quite
a drought-hardy, persistent plant, occurring in the arid interior and especially
in the semi-arid grasslands on heavier-textured, grey clay soils of the
Mitchell grass (Astrebla spp.) downs. The native legumes on these soils,
of which G. falcata is a major one, may contribute only 100 to 200 kg./ha
of dry matter a year, but this is of particular importance because of its
high quality.
G. falcata was one of the least affected of the native Glycine spp.
and Neonotonia cultivars when artificial salinity was imposed at the five-trifoliate
leaf stage for ten days. It was comparable with N. neonotonia cv. Cooper
except for lower N content due to salinity but had higher P contents at
control levels than the Neonotonia cultivars (Wilson, Haydock and Robins,
1970).
Both aerial and subterranean seed pods are set. The aerial pods shatter
very easily.
G. falcata is one of the more promising of the native Australian glycines
for possible cultivation, though this has not as yet been attempted.
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