''Bossiaea tasmanica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
and is
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 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 to pink flowers.
Description
''Bossiaea tasmanica'' is a prostrate or low-lying shrub growing that typically grows to a height of about , its branches often ending in a spine. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a
petiole about long with
stipule
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 ...
s long at the base. The flowers are borne leaf axils near the ends of branches, each flower up to long 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
...
long. There is one or a few
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 about long at the base, and
bracteoles
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 ...
long but that fall off as the flower opens. The five
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 tube, the upper lobes long and wide, the lower lobes narrower. The
standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
petal is yellow with a red base and up to about long, the
wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...
purplish-brown and wide, 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 ...
yellowish-green, sometimes with a pinkish tinge, and about wide. Flowering occurs in November and December and the fruit is a more or less oblong
pod about long.
This bossiaea is closely related to ''
B. obcordata'', but differs from it in being more prostrate, and in having branchlets that are more wax-encrusted with blunter spines, narrower leaves and a hairy sepals and fruit.
[
]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1903 by Leonard Rodway
Leonard Rodway (5 October 1853 – 9 March 1936) was an English-born Australian dentist and botanist.
Early life
Rodway was born in Torquay Devon, England, the thirteenth child of Henry Barron Rodway, a dentist and inventor of the Rodway life ...
who gave it the name ''Bossiaea cinerea'' var. ''rigida'' in his book, ''The Tasmanian Flora'' from a specimen collected at "The Rocks, near New Norfolk
New Norfolk is a town on the Derwent River (Tasmania), River Derwent, in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2011, 2011 census, New Norfolk had a population of 5,543.
Situated north-west of Hobart on the Lyell Hi ...
".Bossiaea
''Bossiaea'' is a genus of about 78 species of flowering plants in the pea family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus often have stems and branches modified as cladodes, simple, often much reduced leaves, flowers with the ...
'', and raised this taxon to species status. The name ''Bossiaea rigida'' was not available as it had already been used by Nikolai Turczaninow
Nikolai Stepanovich Turczaninow ( ru , Николай Степанович Турчанинов, 1796 in Nikitovka, now in Krasnogvardeysky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia – 1863 in Kharkov) was a Russian botanist and plant collector who ...
for a species now known as '' Bossiaea preissii''. Thompson used the name ''Bossiaea tasmanica'' as this is the only endemic species of ''Bossiaea'' in Tasmania.
Distribution and habitat
''Bossiaea tasmanica'' grows in forest and woodland in north-eastern Tasmania near Mathinna and in south-eastern Tasmania near Oatlands.
Conservation status
This bossiaea is listed as "rare" under the ''Threatened Species Protection Act 1995
The ''Threatened Species Protection Act 1995'' (TSP Act), is an act of the Parliament of Tasmania that provides the statute relating to conservation of flora and fauna. Its long title is An Act to provide for the protection and management of th ...
''.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q61717334
tasmanica
Flora of Tasmania
Plants described in 1903