Gastrolobium ovalifolium Henfr.
Runner Poison

Scientific Description

Twining or climbing plants. Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, opposite, continuous with stem, 15-40 mm long, 10-25 mm wide, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 7-8 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present, 3-4.5 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present but early deciduous. Calyx 5.6-6.5 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 7.2-9 mm long, multicoloured, mostly red, orange or purple, with some red, orange or purple spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 6-8.5 mm long, glabrous, auriculate, wings 6.5-8 mm long, auriculate, keel 6.5-8 mm long, not beaked, auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.6-0.7 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 4.5-7.6 mm long. Ovary stipitate, hairy or glandular; style 9-10 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 10 mm long, 6 mm wide, stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in August and September. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Avon Wheatbelt and Jarrah Forest IBRA regions. Conservation Code Priority Four (P4).