Pultenaea baeuerlenii explained

Pultenaea baeuerlenii, commonly known as Budawangs bush-pea,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is a small, erect shrub with linear, cylindrical, grooved leaves, and dense groups of yellow and red flowers, sometimes with red markings.

Description

Pultenaea baeuerlenii is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to . The leaves are linear and cylindrical, long and about wide with a groove along the upper surface, stipules about long at the base and a hooked tip. The flowers are densely crowded at the ends of the branchlets with bracts about long at the base. Each flower is about long and sessile with oblong to elliptic bracteoles about long attached to the base of the sepals that are about long. The standard petal is yellow to orange, sometimes with reddish markings and long, the wings are yellow to orange and the keel is yellow. Flowering occurs in spring and autumn and the fruit is a flattened pod about long.[2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy and naming

Pultenaea baeuerlenii was first formally described in 1887 by Ferdinand von Mueller in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. The specific epithet (baeuerlenii) honours William Baeuerlen who collected the type specimens on Mount Currockbilly "at an elevation of " in the Budawang Range.[5] [6]

Distribution and habitat

Budawangs bush-pea grows in swamp heath on sandstone and is only known from four populations in the Budawang Range.

Conservation status

This pultenaea is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The main threats to the species include inappropriate fire regimes, understorey clearing and road widening and maintenance.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Budawangs Bush-pea - profile . New South Wales Government Offic of Environment and Heritage . 20 June 2021.
  2. Web site: Pultenaea baeuerlenii . Royal Botanic Garden Sydney . 20 June 2021.
  3. Web site: Wood . Betty . Pultenaea baeuerlenii . Lucid keys . 19 June 2021.
  4. Web site: Approved Conservation Advice for Pultenaea baeuerlenii . Australian Government Department of the Environment . 20 June 2021.
  5. Ferdinand . Mueller . Ferdinand von Mueller . Some hitherto undescribed plants of New South Wales . Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 1886. 2. 1. 1109. 20 June 2021.
  6. Web site: Pultenaea baeuerlenii. APNI. 20 June 2021.