Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Platylobium formosum

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

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, near Nowra

Flowering branch. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer S Douglas, Rumbalara Reserve near Gosford

Common name

Handsome flat-pea

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Forest and heath on sandstone. Coast and ranges north from Jervis Bay.

Notes

Shrub to about 1.5 m tall. Leaves opposite each other, 3-5 cm long, 15-40 mm wide, margins curved to slightly rolled down; tips almost pointed or pointed, with an abrupt point to about 1 mm long, mostly withered and brittle, upper surface mostly not or only sparingly warty except on the veins, lower surface becoming hairless, bases rounded to cordate. No obvious junction between the leaf stalk and the leaf. Calyx 7.5-12 mm long. Standard petal 15-20 mm long. Flowers pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel, yellow with red markings, the back of the standard petal purple-brown with yellow bands at the sides. The red-brown bracteoles (3-4 mm long) are immediately below the flower, and hairy all over; bracts (2-3 mm long) are more or less evenly hairy on the outside. Flowers single or in pairs. Flowers late Winter to Spring.

The description in PlantNET is out of date (10 April 2021). The current description is in: Thompson, I.R., (2011) A revision of Platylobium (Fabaceae: Bossiaeeae). Muelleria 29(2): 162-163, Fig. 3