Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Hovea montana
Alpine hovea
Fabaceae
Woodland, heath, and grassy slopes, at high altitudes. Mostly ACT, the mountains to the west, and Kosciuszko National Park. Rare elsewhere.
Spreading shrub to 0.5 m tall and to 1.5m in diameter. Young stems tough and wiry, rusty hairy, becoming hairless. Leaves alternating along the stems, 0.5-3.2 cm long, 2-11 mm wide, arched up from the midrib, tips blunt, margins curved down, upper surface smooth and hairless, often glossy, lower surface densely hairy. Flowers pink, mauve, purple to violet, or white, pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel. Flowers about 10 mm long, single or in pairs up the stems. Flowers Spring to Summer. Pods densely rusty-hairy.
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=Hovea~montana (accessed 19 January, 2021)
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