''Gastrolobium sericeum'' is a 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 The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

of Western Australia. It is a prostrate, low shrub with pendulous yellow, green, red or nearly black pea-flowers from spring to summer.

Description

''Gastrolobium sericeum'' is a low growing, dense prostrate or twining shrub to high. The branchlets more or less needle-shaped and smooth. The leaves are arranged alternately on the stem, elliptic to orb-shaped sometimes oval, long, wide, prominently veined, wavy, margins finely scalloped and rolled under, apex rounded to sharp or occasionally notched. The pendulous yellow, green, red or nearly black pea-flowers have yellowish or green markings, 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 long, 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 smooth. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is a pod. It is not known whether this species shares the toxic properties of many other members of the genus ''

Gastrolobium ''Gastrolobium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. There are over 100 species in this genus, and all but two are native to the south west region of Western Australia. A significant number of the species accumulate monofluo ...

''.

Taxonomy

''Gastrolobium sericeum'' was first formally described in 1864 by botanist

James Edward Smith James Edward Smith may refer to: * James Edward Smith (botanist), English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society * James Edward Smith (murderer), American murderer * James Edward Smith (politician), Canadian businessman and mayor of Toronto * ...

and the description published in ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London ''. He gave it the name ''Chorizema sericeum'' Subsequently, it was placed in the genus ''Brachysema''. Finally, in 1995, botanist

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 ...

placed the species in the genus ''Gastrolobium'' along with a number of other ''Brachysema'' species.

Distribution

This species is usually found along the edge of streams or swamps.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5526859 sericeum Plants described in 1864 Rosids of Western Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by James Edward Smith