''Daviesia oxylobium'' 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 the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, bushy shrub with sharply-pointed, cylindrical

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 yellow and pinkish-red flowers.

Description

''Daviesia oxylobium'' is an erect,

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

, bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about . Its phyllodes are crowded, erect and club-shaped to cylindrical, long and wide with a sharply pointed tip. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils in up to three groups of three to five, each group on a 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 with triangular

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 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 long and joined for most of their length apart from five small teeth. 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 with a notched centre, long and wide, and yellow with a deep pinkish-red base. 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 ...

are about long and pinkish-red, 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 dark red. Flowering occurs in July and August and the fruit is an inflated, triangular pod long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Daviesia oxylobium'' 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 he collected near

Quairading Quairading is a Western Australian town located in the Wheatbelt region. It is the seat of government for the Shire of Quairading. History The town was named for Quairading Spring, derived from a local Aboriginal word recorded in 1872 by s ...

in 1980. 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 ...

(''oxylobium'') means "a sharp pod".

Distribution and habitat

This daviesia grows in

kwongan Kwongan is plant community found in south-western Western Australia. The name is a Bibbelmun (Noongar) Aboriginal term of wide geographical use defined by Beard (1976) as Kwongan has replaced other terms applied by European botanists such as ...

or woodland between Quairading, Corrigin,

Bruce Rock Bruce Rock is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately east of Perth and southwest of Merredin. It is the main town in the Shire of Bruce Rock. History Originally known as Nunagin or Noonegin, the name of ...

and

Yorkrakine Yorkrakine is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia; it is part of the Shire of Tammin, east of the state capital, Perth. At the , Yorkrakine had a population of 117. Since then, the area has been listed as North Tammin in t ...

in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low reli ...

and

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

''Daviesia oxylobium'' is listed as " Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia

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 ...

, meaning that it is rare or near threatened.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q51043797

oxylobium ''Oxylobium'', commonly known as shaggy-pea, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae all of which are endemic to Australia. Description Oxylobium range in size from prostrate to tall, upright shrubs, mostly with simple, hairy ste ...

Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1995 Taxa named by Michael Crisp