''Gompholobium ecostatum'', commonly known as dwarf wedge-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 southern Australia. It is a low-lying to erect shrub with
trifoliate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
leaves with linear to lance-shaped leaflets, and apricot-coloured to reddish, sometimes yellow flowers.
Description
''Gompholobium ecostatum'' is a low-lying to erect shrub that typically grows up to a height of up to high and has hairy, wiry stems. The leaves are trifoliate, the leaflets linear to narrow lance-shaped, long and about wide and
sessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
with the edges rolled under. There are tapering
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 about long at the base of the leaves. The flowers are arranged singly or in pairs in leaf axils, each flower 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
...
up to long. The sepals are up to long and
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 ...
on the outside and the petals are apricot to reddish, sometimes yellow. Flowering occurs from October to March and the fruit is an obliquely oval
pod long.
Taxonomy
''Gompholobium ecostatum'' was first formally described in 1965 by
Rex Harold Kuchel in the ''Supplement to J.M.Black's Flora of South Australia (Second Edition, 1943-1957)''.
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 ...
(''ecostatum'') means "without ribs".
Distribution and habitat
Dwarf wedge-pea grows in heathland and woodland in southern Victoria from near
Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria.
South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearb ...
to
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...
in South Australia and inland as far as the
Little Desert National Park
The Little Desert National Park is a national park in the Wimmera Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated near Dimboola, approximately west of Melbourne and extends from the Wimmera River in the east to the South ...
. It also occurs on
Flinders Island
Flinders Island, the largest island in the Furneaux Group, is a island in the Bass Strait, northeast of the island of Tasmania. Flinders Island was the place where the last remnants of aboriginal Tasmanian population were exiled by the colon ...
in Tasmania.
Conservation status
This pea is classified as "endangered" under the Tasmanian Government ''
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=Q5581265
Mirbelioids
ecostatum
Flora of South Australia
Flora of Victoria (Australia)
Flora of Tasmania
Plants described in 1965