Chorizema

Location & distribution maps

Plant description

Common name:         Flame Pea

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• The genus name (Chorizema) means "divided thread", Labillardière having noted that the stamens are separate from each other

Flowers

• The flowers usually arranged in racemes, each flower on a short pedicel

• The sepal lobes are more or less equal, the upper pair broader and partly joined, the standard petal more or less round or kidney-shaped, the wings oblong and much longer than the keel

Fruit:                            

• The fruit is an oval pod containing 4 to 32 seeds

Leaves:         

• Usually with simple leaves arranged in opposite pairs

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Plants in the genus Chorizema are mostly shrubs or subshrubs, sometimes climbers

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to Australia

• They are endemic to the south-west of Western Australia, apart from C. parviflorum that occurs in New South Wales and Queensland

Species:                     

• World:           

• Australia:     

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • The genus Chorizema was first formally described in 1800 by Jacques Labillardière in his Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse,

  • The first species he described (the type species) was Chorizema ilicifolium

• Use in horticulture

  • This genus of peas is valued in cultivation for their colourful flowers

  • Most species do not tolerate frost, and in temperate regions require the protection of glass

• Species list

  • The following species and subspecies are accepted by the Australian Plant Census as of June 2020:[1]

    • Chorizema aciculare 

      • Chorizema aciculare  subsp. aciculare

      • Chorizema aciculare subsp. laxum

    • Chorizema carinatum 

    • Chorizema circinale 

    • Chorizema cordatum 

    • Chorizema cytisoides 

    • Chorizema dicksonii 

    • Chorizema diversifolium 

    • Chorizema genistoides 

    • Chorizema glycinifolium 

    • Chorizema humile 

    • Chorizema ilicifolium 

    • Chorizema nanum

    • Chorizema nervosum 

    • Chorizema obtusifolium 

    • Chorizema parviflorum 

    • Chorizema racemosum 

    • Chorizema reticulatum 

    • Chorizema retrorsum 

    • Chorizema rhombeum 

    • Chorizema rhynchotropis 

    • Chorizema spathulatum 

    • Chorizema trigonum 

    • Chorizema ulotropis 

    • Chorizema uncinatum 

    • Chorizema varium 

  • Hybrids

    • The following hybrids have been described:

      • Chorizema ×lowii 

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorizema (Jan 2024)