Alysicarpus major Pedley

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, 10-35 mm long, 5-7 mm wide, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 9-15 mm long, without glands, ribbed. Pedicel 1.5-2 mm long. Bracteoles absent. Calyx 5-5.5 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla multicoloured, mostly red or orange, with some red or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 6-8 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 5-6 mm long, not auriculate, keel 5-6 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; filaments free (or united at the very base) or united in an open sheath with one free stamen. Fruit indehiscent and splitting into sections (schizocarps), 16-25 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, sessile or subsessile, constricted between the seeds, flat or compressed, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in May. Occurs in the Northern Botanical Province, in the Northern Kimberley, Central Kimberley and Dampierland IBRA regions. Conservation Code Priority Three (P3).