Bossiaea preissii Meisn.

Scientific Description

Prostrate,spreading or scrambling, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, alternate, not continuous with stem, 6.4-10 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, glabrous, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves. Pedicel present, 2.5-5.5 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles 1-1.5 mm long, glabrous, not striate. Calyx 6-8 mm long, not accrescent, glabrous, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 12-15 mm long, multicoloured, red, mostly red or orange, with some red or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 11-12 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 10-11 mm long, not auriculate. Stamens ten, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments united in an open sheath. Ovary stipitate or sessile or subsessile, glabrous; style 10-15 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 15-30 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, flat or compressed, glabrous, not beaked. Flowers in April, May, June, July, August, September and October. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and Esperance IBRA regions.