Description: Small trees, shrubs, or subshrubs, sometimes rhizomatous or lianoid. Cladodes compressed or terete, sometimes grooved. Adult plants usually leafless
imparipinnate, with membranous stipels, often replaced in adult plant by scales formed by the fusion of the stipules.
Inflorescence lateral, racemose or paniculate. Flowers solitary to numerous, papilionaceous. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed; teeth equal. Standard shortly clawed, ±orbicular; wings falcate; keel incurved. Stamens diadelphous (9 in a slit sheath plus uppermost 1 free); anthers bilocular or unilocular, uniform. Ovary shortly stipitate; style glabrous or bearded on the adaxial surface; stigma capitate, sometimes fringed with hairs.
Fruit with a replum, ovate to elliptic-oblong, dorsiventrally or laterally compressed, indehiscent or dehiscent. Seeds 1–12, ±reniform, oblong or elliptic, deciduous or persistent.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 24 spp. New Zealand, Aust. Aust.: 1 sp., NSW.
The genera Chordospartium Cheeseman, Corallospartium J.B.Armstr., and Notospartium Hook.f. were formerly treated as distinct genera, but were synoynised under Carmichaelia by Heenan (1998). This generic description for Carmichaelia was collated from Green (1994) and Heenan (1998).
Text by P.H. Weston Taxon concept: Heenan (1998)
One species in NSW: Carmichaelia exsul |
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