''Oxylobium arborescens'', commonly known as the tall shaggy-pea,
is a species of flowering shrub to small tree 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 south-eastern Australia. It has elliptic dark green leaves and yellow pea flowers.
Description
''Oxylobium arborescens'' is an upright shrub to high with stems covered in soft, silky hairs. The dark green leaves may be in irregular whorls of three or arranged opposite, linear, narrowly elliptic or oblong, usually long, wide,
petiole about long, margins rolled under. The upper surface is covered in warty protuberances, smooth with veins, underside covered in soft, matted hairs, and tapering to a sharp, short point. The yellow flowers are in short
racemes
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 ...
borne at the end of branches or in the leaf axils. The
bracts
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 ...
are lance shaped and short, bracteoles linear and long. The flower corolla long, yellow with red markings and covered with short, soft hairs 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, standard almost flat and circular, yellow with a reddish centre and notched at the apex. The seed pod is long, egg-shaped, sometimes compressed, hairy and tapering to a point. Flowering occurs in spring and summer.
Taxonomy
''Oxylobium arborescens'' was first formally described in 1811 by
Robert Brown and the description was published in ''
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 ...
(''arborescens'') means "tending to a tree-like form".
Distribution and habitat
Tall shaggy-pea is an uncommon shrub growing in gullies and sheltered forests mostly on ranges.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3359122
Mirbelioids
Fabales of Australia
Flora of Tasmania
Flora of New South Wales
Flora of Queensland
Flora of Victoria (state)