Daviesia alata

Daviesia alata
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Tribe:	Mirbelieae
Genus:	Daviesia
Species:	D. alata
Binomial name
Daviesia alata Sm.

Daviesia alata is a low sprawling shrub found in eastern Australia. It may reach 40 cm tall and one metre in diameter. The habitat is heathland or dry eucalyptus woodland on poor soils. It ranges from the Budawang Range in the south to Nelson Bay on the coast of New South Wales.

This species lacks leaves as such, which may be reduced to scales. The stems are triangular in cross section. The specific epithet alata is from Latin, and it refers to the winged edges of the branchlets.^[1]

Flowers are somewhat darker than most of the Australian yellow and red pea flowers. They form in clusters in spring and early summer. The pea pods are around 10 mm long and 7 mm wide.

This plant does not have a well known common name, though casually remarked by bushwalkers as one of the egg & bacon group of wildflowers.

The original specimen was collected by Dr. John White in Sydney, and first published in 1808 by the eminent English botanist, James Edward Smith.

References