''Bossiaea prostrata'', commonly known as creeping bossiaea, is a prostrate understory shrub in the pea family,

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

. It is a widespread species with orange-yellow flowers, purple-brown keels and trailing branches.

Description

''Bossiaea prostrata'' is a shrub with a prostrate spreading, scrambling habit to wide. The leaves are dark green on the upper side and paler on the underside, ovate to rounded or oblong, long, wide and have a petiole about long. The leaves are arranged alternately, simple, smooth or with sparse hairs,

stipules In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

narrow to egg-shaped, long. The stems are flattened toward the apex and either smooth or with short flattened or spreading hairs. The flowers are single or in pairs, long, have orange-yellow standards, that are pinkish brown on the back, and purple-brown keels. The

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 ...

long,

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 long. The seed pods are oblong in shape and between long. Flowering occurs between September and November in its native range. It is similar to the species '' Bossiaea buxifolia'', but may be distinguished by its longer leaves, petioles and pedicels and more distant leaf spacing.

Taxonomy and naming

''Bossiaea prostrata'' was first formally described in 1812 by botanist Robert Brown and the description was published in ''

Hortus Kewensis ''Hortus Kewensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew'' by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is ...

''. 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 ...

(''prostrata'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "down flat", "overthrown" or "laid low",

Distribution and habitat

Creeping bossiaea occurs in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, Victoria,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in Australia. It grows in coastal heath, grassland and open-forest on a variety of soils including clay-shale, preferring wetter locations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4947583 prostrata Mirbelioids Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (Australia) Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)