Bossiaea aurantiaca explained

Bossiaea aurantiaca is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a rounded or spreading, spiny shrub with oblong to narrow egg-shaped leaves, and golden-yellow and pinkish-red flowers.

Description

Bossiaea aurantiaca is a rounded or spreading, spiny shrub that typically grows up to high and wide, the side-branches ending in a sharp point. The leaves are oblong to narrow egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long with a stipule long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly or in small groups, each flower on a pedicel long with a single bract. The sepals are green with reddish tips, joined at the base forming a tube long, the two upper lobes long and the lower three lobes long. The standard petal is golden yellow with a pinkish-red base and long, the wings long and the keel long and pinkish-red with a green base. Flowering occurs from September to October and the fruit is an oblong pod long.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

Bossiaea aurantiaca was first formally described in 2006 by James Henderson Ross in the journal Muelleria from specimens collected north-west of Norseman in 1998.[2] The specific epithet (aurantiaca) means "of orange colour".[3]

Distribution and habitat

This bossiaea grows in mallee scrub in low-lying situations in the Coolgardie biogeographic region of south-western Western Australia, centred around Norseman.

Conservation status

Bossiaea aurantiaca is classified as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Ross . James H. . A conspectus of the Western Australian Bossiaea species (Bossiaeeae: Fabaceae) . Muelleria . 2006 . 23 . 102–104 . 8 July 2021.
  2. Web site: Bossiaea aurantiaca. APNI. 8 July 2021.
  3. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 140 . 3rd.
  4. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 8 July 2021.