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Glycyrrhiza acanthocarpa (Lindl.) J.M.Black
Native Liquorice

Reference
Trans.& Proc.Roy.Soc.South Australia 43:351 (1919)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Semi-prostrate to ascending, spreading perennial, herb or shrub, 0.1-1 m high. Fl. blue-purple, Sep to Dec or Jan to Feb. Sandy, clay or loamy soils. Plains, flats.

Grazyna Paczkowska, Descriptive Catalogue, 18 June 1996

Scientific Description

Twining or climbing plants, herb. Stems terete, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, not continuous with stem, 45-80 mm long, glabrous, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, leaflets 9-13, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present but early deciduous ( only visible on youngest leaves ), 5-7.6 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present or absent (flowers sessile), 0.5 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 4-4.5 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands present. Corolla 5.5-7 mm long, multicoloured, mostly purple or blue, with some purple or blue spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 5-6.8 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 5-6 mm long, not auriculate, keel 5-5.7 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.3-0.4 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 3-4 mm long. Ovary sessile or subsessile, glabrous; style 3-3.4 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 7-8 mm long, 5-6 mm wide, sessile or subsessile, not constricted between the seeds, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in January, February, September, October, November and December. Occurs in the Eremaean and South-West Botanical Province, in the Murchison, Coolgardie, Avon Wheatbelt, Mallee and Esperance IBRA regions.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 24 October 2023

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Esperance Plains, Mallee, Murchison.
IBRA Subregions
Eastern Goldfield, Eastern Mallee, Eastern Murchison, Fitzgerald, Katanning, Merredin, Southern Cross, Western Mallee.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Coolgardie, Corrigin, Dundas, Esperance, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Katanning, Kondinin, Kulin, Lake Grace, Mount Marshall, Narembeen, Ravensthorpe, Tammin, Yilgarn.