''Chorizema ilicifolium'', commonly known as holly flame pea,
is a species of flowering plant in the family
and is
endemic to the coast of southern Western Australia. It is a slender, erect to spreading shrub with prickly, egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves and yellowish-orange and red pea flowers.
Description
''Chorizema ilicifolium'' is a slender, erect to spreading shrub with thin branches. The leaves are
glabrous, leathery, egg-shaped to lance-shaped, long, with prickly teeth or lobes on the edges, and often with a heart-shaped base. The flowers are yellowish-orange and red, arranged in loose groups in leaf axils or on the ends of branches. The
sepals are long, the upper two curved and joined for about half their length. The
standard petal is broadly kidney-shaped and twice as long as the sepals, the
wings shorter than the standard, and the
keel shorter than the sepals. Flowering occurs from July to October, and the fruit is an oblong
pod
Pod or POD may refer to:
Biology
* Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant
* Husk or pod of a legume
* Pod of whales or other marine mammals
* "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy
Electronics and computing
* Proper ort ...
up to long.
Taxonomy and naming
Holly flame pea was first formally described in 1800 by
Jacques Labillardière and the description was published in ''
Relation du Voyage a la Recherche de la Perouse''.
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
(''ilicifolium'') means "holly-leaved".
Distribution and habitat
''Chorizema ilicifolium'' grows on sand dunes and limestone hills along the south coast of Western Australia between
Busselton
Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...
and
Esperance in the
Esperance Plains,
Jarrah Forest and
Warren bioregions.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5105138
ilicifolium
Fabales of Australia
Flora of Western Australia
Garden plants of Australia
Plants described in 1800
Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière