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Aeschynomene indica L.
Budda Pea

Reference
Sp.Pl. 2:713 (1753)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Erect annual or perennial, herb or shrub, 0.2-2 m high. Fl. yellow, Mar to Jun or Aug or Oct. Sandy, loamy & clayey soils. River & creek edges, claypans, low-lying flats.

Amanda Spooner, Descriptive Catalogue, 17 August 2007
Image

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, not continuous with stem, 90 mm long, glabrous, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, leaflets 23-33, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 8-15 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present, 3.5-5 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles present and persistent, 3.5-3.8 mm long, hairy, not striate. Calyx 4.8-7 mm long, not accrescent, glabrous, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 8-10 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow or red, with some yellow or red spots, streaks or blotches; claws absent; standard 8.2-10 mm long, glabrous, auriculate, wings 7.3-9.5 mm long, auriculate, keel 8.5-10.2 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.5-0.7 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short), 5.6-7.5 mm long. Ovary stipitate, glabrous; style 7-8 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit indehiscent and not splitting into sections, 30-45 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, stipitate, constricted between the seeds, flat or compressed, glabrous, not beaked. Flowers in March, April, May, June, August and October. Occurs in the Northern and Eremaean Botanical Province, in the Great Sandy Desert, Carnarvon, Gascoyne, Little Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert, Murchison, Northern Kimberley, Victoria Bonaparte, Central Kimberley, Ord-Victorian-Plain and Dampierland IBRA regions.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 24 October 2023

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Carnarvon, Central Kimberley, Dampierland, Gascoyne, Gibson Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Murchison, Northern Kimberley, Ord Victoria Plain, Pilbara, Victoria Bonaparte.
IBRA Subregions
Ashburton, Augustus, Berkeley, Cape Range, Chichester, Dune Field, Fitzroy Trough, Fortescue, Hamersley, Hart, Keep, Lateritic Plain, Mackay, McLarty, Mitchell, Pentecost, Pindanland, Purnululu, Roebourne, Rudall, Western Murchison, Wooramel.
IMCRA Regions
Kimberley.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Ashburton, Broome, Carnarvon, Derby-West Kimberley, East Pilbara, Halls Creek, Karratha, Meekatharra, Port Hedland, Upper Gascoyne, Wiluna, Wyndham-East Kimberley.