''Bossiaea ensata'', commonly known as sword bossiaea, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect or low-lying, glabrous shrub with flattened branches, flattened, winged

cladodes :''In botany, "Cladodes" may refer to a synonym of the genus '' Alchornea'' or to the plural of " cladode".'' ''Cladodes'' is a genus of firefly beetles. It used to be included in the subfamily Amydetinae, which is probably a highly artifici ...

, leaves mostly reduced to small scales, and orange-yellow and red flowers.

Description

''Bossiaea ensata'' is an erect to low-lying or sprawling, glabrous shrub that typically grows to a height of and has flattened branches and flattened, winged cladodes wide. The leaves, when present, are reduced to triangular scales long. The flowers are long and arranged singly in leaf axils long on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

up to long with two

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 up to long at the base and bracteoles near the middle of the pedicels. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are long and joined at the base forming a bell-shaped tube, the two upper lobes longer than the lower three lobes. The standard petal is yellow with a red base and with red streaks or blotches on the back. The wings are yellow, sometimes with a red tinge and the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

pale greenish yellow. Flowering occurs from September to October 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

''Bossiaea ensata'' was first formally described in 1825 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in ''

Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'' (1824–1873), also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Prodr. (DC.)'', is a 17-volume treatise on botany initiated by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. De Candolle intended it as a summa ...

'' from an unpublished description by Franz Sieber. 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 ...

(''ensata'') means "sword-shaped", referring to the flattened stems.

Distribution and habitat

Sword bossiaea usually grows in sandy heath and is found on the coast and nearby tablelands of south-east Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria as far west as

Marlo Marlo is a name which may refer to: People Given name or nickname Notable people with the given name or nickname include: *Marlo Dahl (born 1972), Canadian curler *Marlo Hoogstraten (also known as MaRLo), Dutch DJ * Martin "Marlo" Hyland (1969–2 ...

. There is also a record from the south of South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4947580 ensata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Plants described in 1825