Swainsona galegifolia commonly known as smooth Darling pea[1] or Darling pea,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a small shrub with greyish-green leaves and flowers in white, red, pink, purple, yellow or orange.
Swainsona galegifolia is an upright, perennial subshrub to about high with smooth stems. The grey-green leaves are arranged opposite in pairs of 11-29 leaflets on a petiole, each leaflet is narrowly egg-shaped, long, wide, smooth, apex rounded, notched or occasionally with a small point.The pea-like flowers are borne in racemes of 15-20 white, pink, purple, yellow or orange flowers long. The calyx is smooth, shorter than the floral tube. The standard petal is almost orb-shaped, clawed, up to long, wide, keel long, apex rounded and slightly lipped. Flowering occurs in November and December, the fruit is an elliptic-shaped swollen pod, usually long, wide, smooth and the stipe often more than long.[1] [3] [4]
The species was first formally described in 1803 by Henry Cranke Andrews as Vicia galegifolia.[5] In 1812 Robert Brown changed the name to Swainsona galegifolia and the change was published in Hortus Kewensis.[6] [7] The specific epithet (galegifolia) refers to the similarity to the northern hemisphere plant galega.[2]
Smooth Darling pea is a widespread species growing in several different habitats in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.[1]