Sphaerolobium hygrophilum R.Butcher

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades absent or apparently so (reduced to scales), alternate, continuous with stem, glabrous; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules apparently absent even from the youngest leaves. Pedicel present, 2.5 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 7-9 mm long, not accrescent, glabrous, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 10-14.5 mm long, multicoloured, mostly pink, red or orange, with some pink, red or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 8-12 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 9.5-11 mm long, not auriculate, keel 9.5-11 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.6-0.8 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 6.5-7.4 mm long. Ovary stipitate, hairy or glandular; style 14-15 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, flattened at apex. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, not beaked. Flowers in August, September, October, November and December. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Jarrah Forest, Warren and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions.