Indigofera eriophylla Peter G.Wilson & Rowe

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, not continuous with stem, 25-38 mm long, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, leaflets 5, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 2-5 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present, 0.8-1 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present but early deciduous. Calyx 4.6-5 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 6 mm long, multicoloured, mostly pink or purple, with some pink or purple spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 4.6 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 3.7 mm long, not auriculate, keel 4.8 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.5 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments united in an open sheath with one free stamen, 4.2-5.5 mm long. Ovary glabrous; style 5 mm long glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 20-25 mm long, 2.3-3 mm wide, sessile or subsessile, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in July, August and September. Occurs in the Eremaean Botanical Province, in the Gascoyne and Murchison IBRA regions. Conservation Code Priority One (P1).