Pultenaea tenella, commonly known as delicate bush-pea,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the high country near the border between New South Wales and Victoria in south-eastern continental Australia. It is a small, prostrate, mat-forming shrub with elliptic to linear leaves and yellow to orange and red, pea-like flowers.
| Delicate bush-pea | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Pultenaea |
| Species: | P. tenella
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pultenaea tenella | |
Description
editPultenaea tenella is a trailing, prostrate, mat-forming shrub that typically grows to a height of 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in) and has trailing branchlets up to 40 cm (16 in) long that form adventitious roots at the nodes. The leaves are arranged in whorls of three, elliptic to linear, mostly 3.5–6.0 mm (0.14–0.24 in) long and 0.8–1.0 mm (0.031–0.039 in) wide with stipules 0.6–0.8 mm (0.024–0.031 in) long at the base. The upper surface of the leaves is glabrous but the lower surface is hairy. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a pedicel 6–15 mm (0.24–0.59 in) long with linear bracteoles 1.7–2.0 mm (0.067–0.079 in) long attached. The sepals are 5.5–6.0 mm (0.22–0.24 in) long, the standard yellow to orange with a red base and 8.4–9.5 mm (0.33–0.37 in) long, the wings yellow to orange and 7.2–9.0 mm (0.28–0.35 in) long and the keel yellow and 7.0–7.2 mm (0.28–0.28 in) long. Flowering occurs from December to January and the fruit is a flattened pod 5.0–5.8 mm (0.20–0.23 in) long.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
editPultenaea tenella was first formally described in 1864 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected by Ferdinand von Mueller at "an elevation of 5,000 ft (1,500 m)".[4] The specific epithet (tenella) means "delicate".[5]
Distribution and habitat
editThis pultenaea grows in swamps and moist herbfields in the ranges of north-eastern Victoria, and there is a single record from Mount Kosciuszko in New South Wales.[2][3]
References
edit- ^ "Pultenaea tenella". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ a b c Corrick, Margaret G. "Pultenaea tenella". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ a b de Kok, Rogier; West, Judith G. (2003). "A revision of the genus Pultenaea (Fabaceae) 2. Eastern Australian species with velutinous ovaries and incurved leaves". Australian Systematic Botany. 16 (2): 259–260.
- ^ "Pultenaea tenella". APNI. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 321. ISBN 9780958034180.