Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Swainsona monticola

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

Flowering plant. Photographer Don Wood, Canberra Nature Pasrk, Hughes, ACT

Flowering plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer R Hotchkiss, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, ACT

Common name

Notched swainson-pea, Mountain swainson-pea

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Woodland and grassy sites, often on rocky slopes. Kosciuszko National Park. ACT. Tablelands east and south from the ACT.

Notes

Perennial herb to 0.2 m tall. Stems hairy, the hairs attached to the stems at their base or almost at their base and sticking out from the stems (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Leaves 3-10 cm long, compound, with 11-25 leaflets each 0.2-1.5 cm long, to 3 mm wide, tips blunt to notched, lower surface sparsely hairy.  Flowers 4-7 mm long, pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel, mauve to purple with white and purple markings, in clusters of 3-15 flowers. Calyx teeth usually shorter than the tube. Flowers Spring to Autumn.

All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Swainsona~monticola (accessed 7 February, 2021)