Bossiaea obovata

Bossiaea obovata is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small, low-lying or prostrate shrub with egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and pea-shaped, yellow and red flowers.

Description

Bossiaea obovata is a prostrate or low-lying shrub that typically grows up to high with wedge-shaped to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged singly or in small group, each flower on a pedicel long with a leaf-like bract long at the base. The five sepals are long and joined at the base with the two upper lobes about long. There are bracteoles long but that often fall off as the flower opens. The standard petal is yellow with a red base and up to about long, the wings are yellow and wide, and the keel is pink or red and wide. Flowering occurs from October to December and the fruit is an oblong pod long.

Taxonomy and naming

Bossiaea obovata was first formally described in 2012 by Ian R. Thompson in the journal Muelleria from specimens collected near Stanthorpe in 1984. The specific epithet means egg-shaped with the widest part above the middle, referring to the shape of the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

This bossiaea grows in open forest and woodland from the Stanthorpe district in Queensland to Werrikimbe National Park in north-eastern New South Wales.