''Kennedia lateritia'', commonly known as Augusta kennedia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic 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 ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is a woody climber with twining stems,

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 ...

leaves and orange-red and yellow flowers arranged in groups of up to twenty-four.

Description

''Kennedia lateritia'' is a woody climber with twining stems that cover low vegetation or sometimes climb trees to a height of up to . Its leaves are trifoliate with elliptic, round or broadly egg-shaped leaflets long and wide, each leaf on a petiole long and the end leaflet on petiolule up to about long. There are

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 petiole. The flowers are arranged in up to eight clusters of three along a peduncle up to 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 ...

about long. The five sepals are long and the petals are long. 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 brick red with a yellow base and 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 expre ...

are about the same length as 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 ...

. Flowering occurs from October to November and the fruit is a cylindrical pod long and wide.

Taxonomy

''Kennedia lateritia'' was first formally described in 1864 by Ferdinand von Mueller in '' Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae''. The specific epithet (''lateritia'') means "brick red".

Distribution and habitat

Augusta kennedia grows in low coastal heath, often among granite outcrops in the Augusta-

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders ...

area of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

This species of twining pea is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

'' and as " Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" (as ''Kennedia macrophylla'') by the

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government department responsible for managing lands and waters described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'', the ''Rottnest Island ...

. The main threats to the species include trampling by tourists, inappropriate fire regimes and land clearing.

References

External links

Australasian Virtual Herbarium (AVH): Occurrence data for ''Kennedia lateritia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q27828527 Fabales of Australia Plants described in 1864 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Rosids of Western Australia lateritia Endemic flora of Southwest Australia