Skip to main content

Sphaerolobium macranthum Meisn.

Reference
Lehm., Pl.Preiss. [J.G.C.Lehmann] 2:213-214 (1848)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Native to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Erect shrub, 0.25-0.8 m high. Fl. yellow/orange & red, Sep to Oct. Sandy soils.

Grazyna Paczkowska, Descriptive Catalogue, 2 August 1996
Image

Scientific Description

Prostrate,spreading or scrambling, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, alternate, continuous with stem, 3.5-7.5 mm long, 0.2-0.4 mm wide, glabrous, strongly recurved, appearing terete but with one or two grooves below; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules apparently absent even from the youngest leaves. Pedicel present, 1.6-2.5 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 4.6-7.5 mm long, not accrescent, glabrous, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 8.6-11.5 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow, red or orange, with some yellow, red or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 6-8 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 6-9.5 mm long, not auriculate, keel 7.5-10.5 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.5-0.6 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 4.5-6 mm long. Ovary stipitate, hairy or glandular; style 12.5-16 mm long, hairy or glandular towards the base, bearded (with a tuft of hairs at apex), terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle), 5.5-6 mm long, 4.5-5 mm wide, stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, glabrous, not beaked. Flowers in September and October. Occurs in the Eremaean and South-West Botanical Province, in the Coolgardie, Geraldton Sandplains, Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest, Warren, Esperance and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions.

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

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain, Warren.
IBRA Subregions
Dandaragan Plateau, Fitzgerald, Lesueur Sandplain, Merredin, Northern Jarrah Forest, Perth, Recherche, Southern Jarrah Forest, Warren.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Albany, Armadale, Augusta Margaret River, Busselton, Capel, Carnamah, Coorow, Cranbrook, Dandaragan, Denmark, Donnybrook-Balingup, Esperance, Gosnells, Harvey, Jerramungup, Kalamunda, Moora, Nannup, Plantagenet, Ravensthorpe, Three Springs.