Tephrosia sp. D Kimberley Flora (R.D. Royce 1848)

Scientific Description

Prostrate,spreading or scrambling, herb. Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, not continuous with stem, 60-165 mm long, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, leaflets 7-9, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 9-10 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present, 4-5 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 5-5.5 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 9-10 mm long, multicoloured, yellow or orange, mostly yellow or orange, with some yellow or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 8-9 mm long, hairy at least in part, not auriculate, wings 7-7.5 mm long, not auriculate, keel 5.5-6 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, hairy at least in part. Stamens ten; anthers 0.4 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments united in an open sheath with one free stamen, 4.5-4.8 mm long. Ovary sessile or subsessile, hairy or glandular; style 6.5-7.5 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 40-45 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, sessile or subsessile, constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in May, June, July, August and September. Occurs in the Northern and Eremaean Botanical Province, in the Great Sandy Desert, Pilbara, Little Sandy Desert, Tanami and Dampierland IBRA regions.