''Bossiaea atrata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
and is
endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dense, erect, spiny shrub with oblong to elliptic or almost round leaves, and orange-yellow and dark red flowers.
Description
''Bossiaea atrata'' is a dense, erect, spiny shrub that typically grows to high and wide and has more or less
glabrous branches with short side-branches ending in a sharp point. The leaves are oblong to elliptic or almost round, long and wide on a
petiole long and with a
stipule long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly or in small groups on short side branches ending in a spine, each flower on a dark purplish
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
long with several
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
s at the base. The
sepals are dark red or purplish, joined at the base forming a tube long, the two upper lobes long and the lower three lobes long. The
standard petal is orange-yellow with a reddish base and long, the
wings long and the
keel long. Flowering occurs from May to August and the fruit is an oblong
pod
Pod or POD may refer to:
Biology
* Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant
* Husk or pod of a legume
* Pod of whales or other marine mammals
* "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy
Electronics and computing
* Proper ort ...
long.
Taxonomy and naming
''Bossiaea atrata'' was first formally described in 2006 by
James Henderson Ross in the journal ''
Muelleria'' from specimens collected near
Manmanning
Manmanning is a small Wheatbelt town in Western Australia.
The name of the town first appeared on charts drawn in 1907, and was the Indigenous Australian name of a soak located close to the townsite.
The townsite was originally a railway sidi ...
in 1990.
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
(''atrata'') means "clothed in black" referring to the dark pedicels and sepals.
Distribution and habitat
This bossiaea occurs in scattered locations between Manmanning,
Lake Grace
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
and
Lake King
Lake King is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth along State Route 40 between Kelmscott and Ravensthorpe. As of 2016, the town had a population of 95. The 2011 census recorded both the population of the tow ...
in the
Avon Wheatbelt,
Coolgardie,
Esperance Plains and
Mallee biogeographic regions
A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions.
De ...
of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
''Bossiaea atrata'' is classified as "
Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia
Department of Parks and Wildlife
The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...
meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q51043331
atrata
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 2006