''Daviesia latifolia'', commonly known as hop bitter-pea, 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 Australia. It is a slender, erect, spreading shrub with elliptic, egg-shaped or lance-shaped

phyllode Phyllodes are modified petioles or leaf stems, which are leaf-like in appearance and function. In some plants, these become flattened and widened, while the leaf itself becomes reduced or vanishes altogether. Thus the phyllode comes to serve the ...

s and orange-yellow and maroon flowers in long

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

Description

''Daviesia latifolia'' is a slender, erect shrub that typically grows to high and wide and has arching,

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

branches. Adult phyllodes are elliptic to egg-shaped or lance-shaped, long and wide on a petiole-like base long. The phyllodes are wavy with scalloped edges and have prominent veins. Juvenile phyllodes are slightly broader. The flowers are borne in leaf axils along up to three racemes, the peduncle long, the

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

long, 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 ...

long. 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, the upper two joined for most of their length and the lower three triangular and long. 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 broadly egg-shaped, long and orange-yellow and maroon with a yellow centre, 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 ...

long and yellow and maroon, 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 ...

long and maroon. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is triangular pod long.

Taxonomy

''Daviesia latifolia'' was first formally described in 1811 by Robert Brown in Aiton's ''

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 ...

(''latifolia'') means "broad-leaved".

Distribution and habitat

Hop bitter-pea grows in forest, often as an understorey plant and occurs at altitudes up to , from the

Granite Belt The Granite Belt is an area of the Great Dividing Range in the Darling Downs region of Queensland and the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The Granite Belt is centred on the town of Stanthorpe. The cool, high country of the gra ...

of south-eastern Queensland, through the tablelands, western slopes and south coast of New South Wales, to most of Victoria apart, from the north west of the state. It is also common in dry woodlands in Tasmania.

Ecology

This daviesia provides nectar for a range of insects and native birds.

Uses

Use in horticulture

The species is useful as an ornamental, as a windbreak and in nitrogen-fixing. It prefers well-drained soil in full sun and is frost tolerant.

Other uses

The stems and phyllodes can be used with

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , where is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium or a ...

to produce a fawn dye used as a

mordant A mordant or dye fixative is a substance used to set (i.e. bind) dyes on fabrics by forming a coordination complex with the dye, which then attaches to the fabric (or tissue). It may be used for dyeing fabrics or for intensifying stains in ...

. The phyllodes also have reputed medicinal properties, and were also substituted as

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

to flavour beer. Early European settlers used the leaves as a drug to expel intestinal worms, including hydatid cysts, and also as tonic.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5241752 latifolia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 1811 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)