Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cullen tenax
Common name
Emu-foot, Emu grass, Tough scurf-pea
Family
Fabaceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, grassy areas, and near streams. Widespread, but not coast and ranges.
Notes
Perennial herb, more or less erect, to 0.3 m tall, or sprawling with stems to about 50 cm long. Stems angular, grooved, hairless to sparsely hairy. Leaves alternating along the stems, compound, with 5-7 leaflets, the lower leaves occasionally with 3 leaflets each 0.5-7 cm long, 1-15 mm wide, almost hairless, dotted with glands, margins entire, tips more or less pointed. Flowers 2-5 mm long, pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel, bluish or mauve-purple. Calyx 2-5 mm long. Flowers in spike-like clusters, mostly in 2s or 3s along the rachis. Rachis 20-60 mm long. Flowers most of the year.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
Endangered Vic. Listed in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, Vic.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cullen~tenax (accessed 7 January, 2021)
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