Common name: Sturt's Desert Pea, Sturt Pea
Swainsona formosa (G.Don) Joy Thomps. APNI* Synonyms: Clianthus formosus (G.Don) Ford & Vickery APNI*
Description: Prostrate annual or short-lived perennial; stems densely pubescent with spreading basifixed hairs.
Leaves mostly 10–15 cm long; leaflets c. 15, elliptic to obovate, lower leaflets usually 10–30 mm long, 5–12 mm wide, apex acute, obtuse or retuse, lower surface mostly with long spreading hairs; stipules to c. 15 mm long, occasionally with short lateral teeth.
Racemes 2–6-flowered; flowers 50–60 mm long. Calyx pubescent, teeth often twice as long as tube. Corolla red, white or parti-coloured; keel apex long-tapering, acute. Style tip slender, straight.
Pod narrow-elliptic-oblong, 40–90 mm long, densely pubescent; style 30–40 mm long; stipe 5–15 mm long.
Distribution and occurrence: in red, sandy or loamy soils in open sites or in Mulga woodland; chiefly in far-western districts of N.S.W., also recorded for Inverell in 1923 (NWS).
NSW subdivisions: NWS, NWP, SWP, NFWP, SFWP
Other Australian states: Qld W.A. S.A. N.T.
Text by J. Thompson & T. A. James
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 2 (1991)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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