Swainsona villosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to central Australia. It is a prostrate or ascending plant, with imparipinnate leaves with 7 to 15 egg-shaped leaflets with the narrower end towards the base, and racemes of 2 to 15 usually purple, sometimes pink or white flowers.
| Swainsona villosa | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Swainsona |
| Species: | S. villosa
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| Binomial name | |
| Swainsona villosa | |
Description
editSwainsona villosa is a prostrate or ascending plant up to about 20 cm (7.9 in) high with many stems, often with their bases below the surface of the soil. The leaves are imparipinnate, mostly 30–80 mm (1.2–3.1 in) long with 7 to 15 egg-shaped leaflets with the narrower end towards the base, the side leaflets 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long and 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) wide with broad, stipules 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long, often with a long tapering tip, at the base of the petioles. The flowers are usually purple, sometimes pink or white, arranged in racemes of 2 to 15, on a peduncle about 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) wide, each flower 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) long on a dark, hairy pedicel 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) long. The sepals are joined at the base to form a tube about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long, with teeth often twice as long as the tube. The standard petal is 8–11 mm (0.31–0.43 in) long and 9–15 mm (0.35–0.59 in) wide, the wings 9–11 mm (0.35–0.43 in) long and the keel 8–11 mm (0.31–0.43 in) long and 3.0–3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in) deep. Flowering mainly occurs from July to August, and the fruit is an oblong to almost spherical pod 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) long and 9–10 mm (0.35–0.39 in) wide with the remains of the style 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) long.[2][3][4]
Taxonomy and naming
editSwainsona villosa was first formally described in 1924 by John McConnell Black in the Flora of South Australia from specimens collected in the Musgrave Ranges.[5] The specific epithet (villosa) means "with long, soft hairs".[6]
Distribution
editThis Swainson-pea grows on sandy or loamy soils on stone and sandplains in the north of South Australia, in the Central Ranges, Finke, Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, MacDonnell Ranges, Stony Plains of southern Northern Territory, and the Central Ranges, Gascoyne and Great Sandy Desert bioregions of Western Australia.[2][3][4]
References
edit- ^ "Swainsona reticulata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ a b Thonpson, Joy (1993). "A revision of the genus Swainsona (Fabaceae)". Telopea. 5 (3): 477–478. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Swainsona villosa". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Swainsona villosa". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ "Swainsona villosa". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 336. ISBN 9780958034180.