Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Daviesia acicularis

Flowers and 'leaves'. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Nadgigomar Nature Reserve north of Braidwood

Flowers and 'leaves'. Photographer Don Wood, Princes Highway, Wandandian, west of Jervis Bay

Common name

Sharp bitter-pea

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Dry forest, woodland, grassy areas, and cleared areas. Coast, ranges, tablelands, and ACT. Western Slopes between Cowra and West Wyalong.

Notes

Shrub to 1 m tall. Sharp-pointed 'leaves'. Stems ribbed, hairless to bristly. 'Leaves' scattered, 0.9-6.5 cm long, 0.5-10 mm wide, flattened but often appearing cylindrical because of the rolled down margins, surfaces hairless to bristly, midrib prominent on the upper surface, margins with scattered teeth, and curved to rolled down. Flowers 5-7 mm long, pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel, standard petal yellow to orange, with dark red veins radiating from a ring surrounding the yellow centre, 5-7 mm long, 5-6 mm wide, keel dark red at the tip, becoming paler and pink towards the base. Flowers single, sometimes 2 at the base of the same leaf. Flowers Winter to Spring.

.All species of Daviesia have 'leaves' that taste bitter, and hairless triangular pods.

Uncertain Status (native or naturalised) in the ACT.

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

Description partly based on Crisp, M.D., Cayzer, L., Chandler, G.R. & Cook, L.G. (2017), A monograph of Daviesia (Mirbelieae, Faboideae, Fabaceae). Phytotaxa 300(1): 27-29, Fig. 6