Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Bossiaea heterophylla

Common name

Variable bossiaea

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Dry forest, woodland, heath, and other habitats. Coast, ranges, and tablelands, mainly north from Batemans Bay.

Notes

Shrub to about 1 m tall. Stems moderately compressed to flat, occasionally with narrow wings, hairy to hairless, often glaucous. Leaves alternating up the stems, 0.4-3 cm long, 1.5-6 mm wide (juvenile leaves to 20 mm wide), often variable in shape on the same plant; oval to almost linear, margins flat or curved to rolled upwards. Some plants have round (juvenile) leaves near the base of the plant. Flowers 7-15 mm long, pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel. Front of standard petal yellow with a red flare, back mostly flushed pink, wings yellow or flushed pink, keel pink grading to dark red. Flowers Autumn to Winter.

Rare Vic.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Bossiaea~heterophylla (accessed 5 January, 2020)

Description partly based on Thompson, I.R., (2012) A revision of eastern Australian Bossiaea (Fabaceae: Bossiaeae). Muelleria 30(2): 149-150