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Macroptilium atropurpureum (DC.) Urb.
Purple Bean

Reference
Symb.Antill. 9:457 (1928)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Alien to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Trailing or twining, stoloniferous perennial, herb or climber, to 5 m high, to 5 m wide. Fl. red/purple, Mar to Nov. Sand, clay, alluvium. Creek lines, dunes, edges of seasonal wetlands & mangroves, road verges,disturbed areas.

Amanda Spooner, Descriptive Catalogue, 17 August 2007

Scientific Description

Twining or climbing plants, herb. Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, not continuous with stem, 30-60 mm long, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 5-6 mm long, without glands, ribbed. Pedicel present, 1-2 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles absent. Calyx 7.5-9 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 15-17 mm long, multicoloured, mostly red or purple, with some red or purple spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 13-15 mm long, glabrous, auriculate, wings 13 mm long, not auriculate, keel 12 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten. Ovary glabrous; style 17 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, bearded (with a tuft of hairs at apex), terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 60-70 mm long, 2 mm wide, sessile or subsessile, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November. Occurs in the Northern, Eremaean and South-West Botanical Province, in the Pilbara, Northern Kimberley, Victoria Bonaparte, Central Kimberley, Ord-Victorian-Plain, Dampierland, Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 17 April 2024

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Central Kimberley, Dampierland, Geraldton Sandplains, Indian Tropical Islands, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Pilbara, Swan Coastal Plain, Victoria Bonaparte.
IBRA Subregions
Chichester, Geraldton Hills, Keep, Mitchell, Mount Eliza, Perth, Pindanland, Purnululu.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Belmont, Broome, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Derby-West Kimberley, Greater Geraldton, Halls Creek, Karratha, Northampton, Wyndham-East Kimberley.