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

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

and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect, rigid shrub with spiny branches, heart-shaped to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, and yellow and purplish-brown flowers.

Description

''Bossiaea obcordata'' is an erect, rigid shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has flattened branchlets that become spiny with age. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems, broadly egg-shaped to heart-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, sometimes almost round, long and wide on a petiole long with narrow triangular stipules long at the base. The flowers are mostly long and arranged singly along the branches, each flower on a

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 ...

up to long. The sepals are long with bracteoles up to long on the pedicel. The standard petal is yellow with a red base and up to long, the wings usually purplish-brown and about wide and the keel pinkish to red and wide. Flowering occurs from September to October and the fruit is a narrow 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

Spiny bossiaea was first formally described in 1804 by

Étienne Pierre Ventenat Étienne Pierre Ventenat (1 March 1757 – 13 August 1808) was a French botanist born in Limoges. He was the brother of naturalist Louis Ventenat (1765–1794). While employed as director of the ecclesiastic library Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, V ...

who gave it the name ''Platylobium obcordatum'' in his book, ''Le Jardin de la Malmaison''. In 1917, George Claridge Druce changed the name to ''Bossia obcordata'' and the new name is accepted by the Australian Plant Census. 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 ...

(''obcordata'') refers to the obcordate shape of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''Bossiaea obcordata'' grows in forest and heath, often on dry sandstone ridges and slopes. It is found from far south-eastern Queensland through the coast, western slopes and tablelands of eastern New South Wales, to central and eastern Victoria. Specimens recorded from Tasmania are now included in ''

Bossiaea tasmanica ''Bossiaea tasmanica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a prostrate or low-lying shrub with spiny branches, elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, and yellow and red ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15525787 obcordata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (state) Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat Plants described in 1804