''Kennedia prostrata'', commonly known as running postman, scarlet coral pea or scarlet runner, 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a prostrate or twining 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 and, usually, red flowers.

Description

''Kennedia prostrata'' is a prostrate or twining shrub with wiry stems up to long that are hairy when young. The leaves are on a petiole vary from long, with more or less round leaflets, which are from long and wide with wavy edges. The end leaflet on a

petiolule In botany, the petiole () is the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the stem, and is able to twist the leaf to face the sun. This gives a characteristic foliage arrangement to the plant. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole in som ...

is from long, but the side leaflets more or less

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 ...

. There is a heart-shaped stipule about long at the base of the petiole. The flowers are borne singly or in pairs on a peduncle from long, with

bract 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 ...

s from long at the base, the individual flowers on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

being from long. The five

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 hairy, from in length, and the petals are usually scarlet, rarely white. The standard petal is from long, the wings from 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 ...

from long. Flowering occurs from April to November, and the fruit is a flattened cylindrical

pod Pod or POD may refer to: Biology * Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant * Husk or pod of a legume * Pod of whales or other marine mammals * "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy Electronics and computing * Proper ort ...

from in length.

Taxonomy

''Kennedia prostrata'' was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1812 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 ...

''.Brown, R. 1812
Hortus Kewensis 4:299
Retrieved 2 July 2018. 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 ...

(''prostrata'') means "prostrate".

Distribution and habitat

Running postman occurs in all Australian states and territories, except Queensland and the Northern Territory, and grows in a variety of habitats, often on coastal sand dunes and on rock outcrops.

Use in horticulture

The species is naturally adapted to sandy or lighter soils and prefers a sunny position. A widely cultivated species, it grows in temperate to subtropical areas and is hardy in most situations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3195154 prostrata Fabales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Flora of South Australia Flora of Tasmania Rosids of Western Australia Garden plants Plants described in 1812 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)