Sphaerolobium vimineum Sm.
Leafless Globe Pea

Scientific Description

Erect, shrub, spindly shrub (broom-like). Stems terete, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, simple, alternate, continuous with stem, 3-5.6 mm long, 0.2-0.3 mm wide, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins entire; tubercles absent; pustules or glands absent. Stipules apparently absent even from the youngest leaves. Pedicel present, 1.5-2 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles present and persistent. Calyx 4.5-5.2 mm long, not accrescent, hairy or glabrous, with simple hairs, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 8-9 mm long, multicoloured, mostly yellow, red or orange, with some yellow, red or orange spots, streaks or blotches; claws present; standard 7-7.5 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 4.5-4.8 mm long, not auriculate, keel 4-4.5 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers 0.4-0.5 mm long, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments free (or united at the very base), 2.2-3.5 mm long. Ovary stipitate, glabrous; style 7-7.5 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. 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, Esperance and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions.