Ptychosema pusillum Benth.
Dwarf Pea

Scientific Description

Prostrate,spreading or scrambling, herb. Stems terete, not spiny, hairy; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, continuous with stem, 15-35 mm long, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent, leaflets 5-13, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules apparently absent even from the youngest leaves, 7.5 mm long, without glands, ribless. Pedicel present, 4-4.5 mm long, hairy. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 7-8 mm long, not accrescent, hairy, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 10-19 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow, red or brown, with some yellow, red or brown spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 10-17.5 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 9-11.5 mm long, not auriculate, keel 8-9 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, hairy at least in part. Stamens ten; anthers 0.5-0.7 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short), 3-6 mm long. Ovary sessile or subsessile, hairy or glandular; style 5-6.5 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), sessile or subsessile, flat or compressed, not beaked. Flowers in August, September and October. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions. Conservation Code Threatened (T).