Bossiaea cinerea

Showy Bossiaea

Bossiaea cinerea, commonly known as showy bossiaea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia
It is an erect or spreading shrub with trowel-shaped, triangular, egg-shaped or lance-shaped leaves with a sharply-pointed tip and golden yellow and red to purplish-brown flowers

Common name: Showy Bossiaea

Conservation status: . . .

Etymology:

The genus is named in honour of Joseph Hugues Boissieu La Martinière, a botanist on La Pérouse's expedition to Australia
The specific epithet (cinerea) means "ash-covered" or "grey"

Flowers:

The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils along the branchlets, each flower 7–12 mm long and borne on a pedicel 5–20 mm long with crowded egg-shaped bracts and bracteoles equal to or less than 1 mm long
The sepals are 3–5 mm long and joined at the base with the upper lobes much broader than the lower ones
The standard petal is yellow with a red base, a darker colour on the back and up to 9 mm long
The wings are yellow to orange with red or brownish-purple streaks and more than twice as long as the sepals, the wings and keel are shorter than the standard petal and brownish-purple or red
Flowering occurs from August to November

Fruit:

Leaves:

The leaves are more or less sessile, trowel-shaped, triangular, egg-shaped or lance-shaped with a sharply-pointed tip
10–20 mm long and 2–5 mm wide with bristly stipules up to 2.5 mm long at the base

Stem & branches:

Roots:

Habit:

Bossiaea cinerea is an erect to spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1.5 m tall and has densely hairy stems

Habitat:

Distribution:

South from Bega in NSW, through southern Victoria to far south-eastern South Australia
It is common and widespread in Tasmania

Additional notes:

Taxonomy
- Bossiaea cinerea was first formally described in 1812 by Robert Brown in William Aiton's Hortus Kewensis
Use in horticulture
- This bossiaea grows best in well drained soils but tolerates salty winds and dry conditions. It can be grown in full sun but prefers partial shade

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