Gastrolobium reticulatum (Meisn.) Benth.

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, whorled, continuous with stem, 6-8 mm long, 2-3.4 mm wide, glabrous, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules apparently absent even from the youngest leaves. Pedicel present, 2.4-3 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present but early deciduous. Calyx 5-6 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 10.5-11 mm long, multicoloured, mostly red or orange, with some red or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 9.5-11 mm long, glabrous, auriculate, wings 9.2-9.5 mm long, auriculate, keel 9.5-10 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.9-1 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 6.7-9.6 mm long. Ovary sessile or subsessile, hairy or glandular; style 8.5-9 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 6-8 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, hairy, with simple hairs, not beaked. Flowers in July, August, September and October. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Mallee and Esperance IBRA regions.