Citation: G. Bentham, Hook. Lond. J. Bot. 1: 323 (1842).

Derivation: spina (Latin), thorn, spine; -escens (Latin), beginning, refers to the branches ending in a spine or sharp point.

Synonymy: Choretrum oxycladum F. Muell., Fragm. Phyt. Aust. 1: 121 (1858); A. B. Court, Muelleria 2:158 (1972).

Common name: Spiny wattle

Description:
Small, glabrous, erect, rigid, spreading intricate shrubs to 1 m high; branches spinescent, grey-green, terete but striate with thin light coloured ridges.

Phyllodes absent or if present (very rarely) then articulate, thick, linear, 1-5 cm long and to 2 mm broad, 1-veined, with a curved or hooked point.

Inflorescences simple; flower-heads small, globular, bright yellow, 3-8-flowered, sessile or sometimes on peduncles to 6 mm long; flowers 5-merous; bracts and bracteoles brown, not as conspicuous as in A. continua.

Legumes shortly stipitate, linear-moniliform, curved, 2-3 cm long and to 3 mm broad; margins thick, light brown. Seeds longitudinal in legume, obloid-ellipsoid; funicle short, not folded, expanded into a fleshy clavate aril.

Distribution:  Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, Northern and Southern Lofty, Murray, South-Eastern (upper part) and Kangaroo Island regions, throughout these areas associated with a number of different vegetation formations and a wide variety of soil types. Rainfall 300-1200 mm. Also N.S.W. and western Vic. S.Aust.: FR, EP, NL, MU, YP, SL, KI, SE. Flowering time: July — October.

SA Distribution Map based on current data relating to specimens held in the State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: No text

Cultivation: A useful, hardy, low growing shrub suitable for group plantings or on rockeries, thrives on a variety of soil types, moderate to fast growth rate.

Author: Not yet available

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