Bossiaea spinosa (Turcz.) Domin

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, alternate, 3.5-6 mm long, 1.7-2.5 mm wide, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands present. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves. Pedicel present, 2.5-3.5 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles 2.2-4.2 mm long, hairy, not striate. Calyx 9-11 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 10-14 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow, red or orange, with some yellow, red or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 9.8-10 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 8-9 mm long, not auriculate, keel 9-9.4 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.6-0.8 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments united in an open sheath, 8-9.2 mm long. Ovary stipitate or sessile or subsessile, hairy or glandular; style 11-11.5 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, flat or compressed, not beaked. Flowers in August, September and October. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Mallee and Esperance IBRA regions. Conservation Code Priority Three (P3).