Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Pultenaea spinosa
Common name
Spiny Bush-pea, Grey bush-pea
Family
Fabaceae
Where found
Dry forest and woodland. Widespread. Uncommon on the coast and ranges.
Notes
Shrub, prostrate or to 3 m tall. Stems sometimes glaucous, hairless to hairy. Leaves sharp tipped, alternating up the stems or in whorls of three, rarely opposite each other, 0.2-2 cm long, 1.5-21 mm wide, flat to concave in cross section, tips with a stiff bristle or blunt with the midrib continued into a prominent, sharp mucro, margins flat to rolled upwards, surfaces hairless, lower surface prominently veined, darker than upper surface, or both surfaces the same colour. Flowers pea shaped, with 5 petals, 2 joined together to form the keel. Standard petal 6-14 mm long, orange to yellow, rarely whitish, usually with red markings. Wings orange to yellow, rarely whitish. Keel red-brown to orange or yellow, rarely whitish. Bracteoles linear to triangular, rarely with 3 teeth at the tips, papery, rarely fringed, inserted on the calyx tube. Flowers in leafy clusters. Flowers most of the year. Pods hairless, rarely with a tuft of hairs at the tips.
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=Pultenaea~spinosa (accessed 2 February, 2021)
Description partly taken from: Kok, R.P.J. de & West, J.G., (2002) A revision of Pultenaea (Fabaceae) 1. Species with ovaries hairless and/or with tufted hairs. Australian Systematic Botany 15(1): 105-107, Figs 9, 10
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