Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Aotus ericoides

Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, Bellbird Creek Nature Reserve north of Edenv

Flowering stems. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, near Coffs Harbour

Common name

Common aotus

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Dry forest, woodland, heath, and other habitats. Coast, ranges, and tablelands.

Notes

Shrub to 2 m tall. Stems hairy, the hairs often rusty. Leaves in whorls of 3 or more, opposite each other, or alternating up the stems, 0.2-2 cm long, 1-5 mm wide, hairless to sparsely hairy, upper surface more or less warty, margins curved or rolled down, tips pointed. Flowers 5-10 mm long, pea-shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel, yellow, with a reddish or orange blotch at the base of the standard petal, in clusters of one to several flowers. Flowers Winter to Spring.

There is a miniature version to 0.15 m tall with leaves about 6 mm long.

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Aotus~ericoides (accessed 3 January, 2021)