Bossiaea webbii explained

Bossiaea webbii, commonly known as water bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, slender shrub with more or less round to kidney-shaped, minutely-toothed leaves and orange-yellow and red, pea-like flowers.

Description

Bossiaea webbii is an erect, slender shrub that typically grows up to high, sometimes with arching branches. The leaves are more or less round to kidney-shaped with fine teeth on the edges, long and wide on a petiole long with triangular stipules long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly or in pairs, each flower on a pedicel long, with broadly egg-shaped bracts attached to the pedicel. The five sepals are joined at the base, forming a tube long, the two upper lobes long and the lower lobes long. The standard petal is orange-yellow with a red markings and long, the wings are pinkish-red and yellow and long, and the keel greenish-white and pinkish-red and long. Flowering occurs from July to November and the fruit is a flattened pod long.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

Bossiaea webbii was first formally described in 1882 by Ferdinand von Mueller in The Chemist and Druggist with Australasian Supplement from specimens collected "on the summit of Mount Lindsay, near King George's Sound".[2] [3] The specific epithet (webbii) honours William Webb, who collected the type specimens.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Water bush grows in jarrah, karri and marri forest and in low, heathy woodland in the Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

Bossiaea webbii is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

Notes and References

  1. Ross . James H. . A conspectus of the Western Australian Bossiaea species (Bossiaeeae: Fabaceae). Muelleria 23: . Muelleria . 2006 . 11 . 28–31 . 1 October 2021.
  2. Web site: Bossiaea webbii. APNI. 1 October 2021.
  3. von Mueller . Ferdinand . Notes on some Leguminous Plants . The Chemist and Druggist with Australasian Supplement . 1882 . 5 . 56 . 65 . 1 October 2021.
  4. Book: Sharr . Francis Aubi . George . Alex . Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, WA . 9780958034180 . 338 . 3rd.