Bossiaea rufa is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a loose, many-branched shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and deep yellow and red flowers.
Bossiaea rufa is a loose, many-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of up to when supported by surrounding vegetation. The stems are flattened and winged, up to wide and are sometimes leafless. The leaves, when present, are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, mostly long and wide on a petiole long with egg-shaped stipules long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly or in pairs in leaf axils on pedicels long, with egg-shaped bracts long at the base. The five sepals are long and joined at the base, forming a tube long, the two upper lobes long and the lower lobes long. The standard petal is deep yellow with a purplish-red base and long, the wings reddish and long, and the keel reddish and long. Flowering occurs from September to January and the fruit is an oblong pod long.[1] [2]
Bossiaea rufa was first formally described in 1812 by Robert Brown in Hortus Kewensis.[3] [4] The specific epithet (rufa) means "reddish-brown".[5]
This bossiaea usually grows in sandy soil in moist places near streams and swamps in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.
Bossiaea rufa is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.