Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Cullen microcephalum

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, South East Forests National Park

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, near Glenloch Interchange, Canberra

Plant. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Brindabella Range, ACT

Common name

Dusky scurf-pea, Mountain psoralea

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Woodland and grassy areas, mostly at higher altitudes. Kosciuszko National Park, the mountains to the north, ACT, tablelands, and the ranges.

Notes

Trailing to erect perennial herb or subshrub, stems to 0.8m long. Stems more or less hairless, dotted with glands. Leaves alternating along the stems, 2–9 cm long, compound, with 3 leaflets, each leaflet 2-9 cm long, 5–25 mm wide, dotted with black glands, upper surface hairless to sparsely hairy, lower surface more or less hairy, hairs mostly on the veins, tips rounded, margins with short teeth.. Flowers pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel, calyx 3-5 mm long, corolla 5-7 mm long, petals mauve-purple to pink, or occasionally white. Calyx covered in dark hairs. Flowers in spike-like clusters 25-120 mm long, flowers mostly in 3s along the rachis. Rachis to 90 mm long. 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=Cullen~microcephalum (accessed 7 January, 2021)