''Swainsona luteola'', commonly known as dwarf Darling pea, 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 eastern Australia. It is a prostrate or low-lying to semi-erect

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

with

imparipinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves with usually 3 to 17 narrowly elliptic leaflets, and

raceme 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 ...

s of 5 to 15 purple, sometimes yellow flowers.

Description

''Swainsona luteola'' is a prostrate or low-lying to semi-erect perennial plant, that typically grows to a height of up to about and has hairy stems. The leaves are imparipinnate, mostly long with 3 to 17 narrowly elliptic leaflets, the side leaflets long and wide with

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 long at the base of the petioles. The flowers are purple, sometimes yellow, long, arranged in racemes of 5 to 15, long, on a peduncle long. 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 joined at the base to form a tube long, with lobes equal to or longer than the tube. The standard petal is long and wide, 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 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 about deep. The fruit is a narrowly elliptic pod long and wide, with the remains of the curved

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Swainsona luteola'' was first formally described in 1859 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in his '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae'' from specimens collected near Peak Downs. 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 ...

(''luteola'') means "yellowish".

Distribution

This species of swainsona grows in heavy soils in open grassland on the western slopes and plains of New South Wales and in south-eastern Queensland mostly west of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15482528 luteola Fabales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1859 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller