Bossiaea cinerea

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids  > Fabales> Fabaceae > Bossiaea  cinerea                    

Other links:                  

Plant  information

Common name:                unknown  

Conservation status:  unknown

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Additional notes:     

• 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

• Description

  • 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

  • The leaves are more or less sessile, trowel-shaped, triangular, egg-shaped or lance-shaped with a sharply-pointed tip, 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) wide with bristly stipules up to 2.5 mm (0.098 in) long at the base

  • The flowers are arranged singly in leaf axils along the branchlets, each flower 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in) long and borne on a pedicel 5–20 mm (0.20–0.79 in) long with crowded egg-shaped bracts and bracteoles equal to or less than 1 mm (0.039 in) long

  • The sepals are 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) 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 (0.35 in) 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 and the fruit is an egg-shaped to oblong pod 19–20 mm long

• Taxonomy

  • Bossiaea cinerea was first formally described in 1812 by Robert Brown in William Aiton's Hortus Kewensis

• The specific epithet (cinerea) means "ash-covered" or "grey"

• Distribution and habitat

  • Showy bossiaea grows in forest, woodland, coastal heath and scrub, south from Bega in New South Wales, through southern Victoria to far south-eastern South Australia. It is common and widespread in Tasmania

• 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