''Daviesia microcarpa'', commonly known as Norseman pea,
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 two small areas of inland Western Australia. It is a sprawling shrub with tangled stems and crowded, needle-shaped, sharply-pointed
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 and pinkish-red flowers.
Description
''Daviesia microcarpa'' is a sprawling shrub, typically up to high and wide with many weak, tangled stems. Its phyllodes are crowded, needle-shaped and sharply pointed, long and wide. The flowers are arranged singly or in pairs in leaf axils on a
peduncle 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
...
about long with oblong
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 at the base. 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 about long and joined at the base, the lobes more or less similar, triangular and about 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 egg-shaped, about long and orange with pinkish red markings, 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 pinkish red, 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 ...
about long and pale orange-pink. Flowering occurs in August and September and the fruit is a triangular
pod long.
Taxonomy and naming
''Daviesia microcarpa'' was first formally described in 1995 by
Michael Crisp
Michael Douglas Crisp (born 1950) is an emeritus professor in the Research School of Biology at the Australian National University located in Canberra. In 1976 he gained a PhD from the University of Adelaide, studying long-term vegetation chan ...
in ''
Australian Systematic Botany
''Australian Systematic Botany'' is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by CSIRO Publishing. It is devoted to publishing original research, and sometimes review articles, on topics related to systematic botany, such as bio ...
'' from specimens collected near
Norseman in 1979.
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 ...
(''microcarpa'') means "small-fruited", referring to the phyllodes.
Distribution and habitat
This daviesia grows in sandy soil in woodland and is known from two
disjunct populations, near
Norseman
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
where 13 plants were recorded in March 2010, and
Southern Cross
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...
where there were 39 plants, in the
Coolgardie biogeographic region of inland Western Australia.
Conservation status
''Daviesia microcarpa'' is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government ''
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...
'' and as "
Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government
The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...
and a recovery plan has been prepared. The main threats to the species include its short life span and limited numbers of young plants, change in hydrology as a result of road works, and inappropriate fire regimes. Translocations have been conducted near Norseman with some plants setting seed, but in 2008 all the translocated plants were destroyed by vandals.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q27828444
microcarpa
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 1995
Taxa named by Michael Crisp