Gastrolobium sericeum is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate, low shrub with pendulous yellow, green, red or nearly black pea-flowers from spring to summer.
Gastrolobium sericeum is a low growing, dense prostrate or twining shrub to high. The branchlets more or less needle-shaped and smooth. The leaves are arranged alternately on the stem, elliptic to orb-shaped sometimes oval, long, wide, prominently veined, wavy, margins finely scalloped and rolled under, apex rounded to sharp or occasionally notched. The pendulous yellow, green, red or nearly black pea-flowers have yellowish or green markings, the standard petal long, the keel long and smooth. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is a pod. It is not known whether this species shares the toxic properties of many other members of the genus Gastrolobium.[1]
Gastrolobium sericeum was first formally described in 1864 by botanist James Edward Smith and the description published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London . He gave it the name Chorizema sericeum Subsequently, it was placed in the genus Brachysema. Finally, in 1995, botanist Michael Crisp placed the species in the genus Gastrolobium along with a number of other Brachysema species.[2]
This species is usually found along the edge of streams or swamps.[3]