Pultenaea laxiflora
Loose-Flower Bush-Pea
Loose-Flower Bush-Pea
Not at ANBG
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids > Pultenaea laxiflora
Other links:
Overview:
Pultenaea laxiflora, commonly known as loose-flower bush-pea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia
It is a low-lying to prostrate, spreading shrub with linear to narrow egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and yellow and red to brown or purple flowers
Common name: Loose-Flower Bush-Pea
Conservation status: ...
Rare in ACT ( https://lists.ala.org.au/speciesListItem/list/dr7904 )
Etymology:
The genus is named in honour of Richard Pulteney, an English surgeon and botanist, who also was the biographer of Linnaeus
The specific epithet (laxiflora) means "wide, loose or open-flowered"
Flowers
The flowers are about 7 mm long, arranged in leaf axils in groups of up to six, each flower on a hairy peduncle 2–6 mm long
There are egg-shaped bracts 2–3 mm long but that fall off as the flower opens.
The sepals are 5–7 mm long with egg-shaped bracteoles 4–5 mm long at the base of the sepal tube
The standard and wings are yellow with red markings, the standard 8–9 mm with, and the keel is red to brown or purple
Flowering occurs from September to January, mainly in January
Fruit:
The fruit is an oval, hairy pod 4–5 mm long
Leaves:
The leaves are linear to narrow egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, or cylindrical with a groove along the upper surface
4–12 mm long and 0.5–2 mm wide with triangular stipules 1–2 mm long at the base
Stem & branches:
Roots:
Habit:
A low-lying to prostrate, spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of 0.5–1.1 m , and has softly-hairy stems when young
Habitat:
Forest
Distribution:
NSW, the ACT, Victoria and South Australia
It is found on the western slopes of NSW and the ACT south from Bathurst, in the drier areas of central and western Victoria to the south-east of South Australia, including Kangaroo Island
Additional notes:
Taxonomy
Pultenaea laxiflora was first formally described in 1864 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis
Sources of information: