Matted Bush-pea - Pultenaea pedunculata (Hook) (Fabaceae)

Matted Bush-pea
 Pultenaea pedunculata (Fabaceae)

                                                                                                                     

Pultenaea – named after the English botanist Richard Pulteney (1730 – 1801). 
pedunculata – “with a flower stalk”, from the Latin pedunculus , meaning “a little foot”, and the suffix -atus designating the possession of something: the flowers of this plant possess a peduncle (flower stalk).

Description: Matting, prostrate perennial herb

Habitat: Dry sclerophyll forest, box ironbark woodland

Distribution: Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia

AVH (Australian Virtual Herbarium) distribution map.

Plant size: Prostrate x 1-3m.

Foliage: Tiny, flat, dark green elliptical leaves to 12 mm long, hair below, margins sometimes recurved. Stipules prominent, 2-3 mm long.

Flower: Masses of single yellow and red axillary flowers on long hairy stalks; October to November (although I have seen it flowering till late December). Fine, long bracteoles.

In the garden: Well drained soils, tolerating dry periods once established. It grows particularly well as a rockery plant, with cascades of matting, dark green foliage. This makes collection of seed much easier as the drying pods are quite small (≈5 mm long) and only contain 1-2 seeds (they are easily lost once released). As a groundcover, grows well in between grasses such as Rytidosperma setaceum (R.Br.) (syn. Austrodanthonia setacea) or a base plant in large pots with other plants.

Further reading and links

Growing Native Plants: Australian National Botanic Gardens - Australian National Herbarium: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2005/pultenaea-pedunculata.html

Australian Plant Name Index (APNI): http://www.cpbr.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni

References

            1. Australian Plant Society Maroondah, Inc. (2001). Flora of Melbourne: A guide to the Indigenous Plants of the Greater Melbourne Area. Hyland House