''Leptosema bossiaeoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the family
Fabaceae
Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...
and is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. It is a straggling, low-growing or prostrate shrub with flat, winged stems and branches, leaves reduced to narrowly elliptic scales, pale yellowish-green flowers, and oval, beaked pods.
Description
''Leptosema bossiaeoides'' is a straggling, low-growing or prostrate shrub with flat, winged, striated stems and branches up to wide. Its adult leaves are reduced to narrowly egg-shaped, channelled scales, long. The flowers are pale yellowish-green, and arranged in
raceme
A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...
s of two to five flowers on a
rachis
In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft".
In zoology and microbiology
In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...
up to long along the stems and branches, each flower on a
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
long. The
standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object ...
petal is long and about broad, the
wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
is elliptic, long. The
ovary
The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...
has about 4
ovule
In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the sporangium, megasporangium), ...
s. Flowering occurs in most months, and the pods are oval, slightly inflated, about long and wide, including a beak about long.
Taxonomy
''Leptosema bossiaeoides'' was first formally described in 1837 by
George Bentham
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...
in his ''Commentationes de Leguminosarum Generibus'' from specimens collected on Sim's Island by Allan Cunningham.
Distribution and habitat
This species of ''Leptosema'' grows in shallow sand over sandstine in laterite in low woodland in the
Arnhem Coast
The Arnhem Coast, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory,IBR ...
,
Arnhem Plateau
The Arnhem Plateau is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, Australian bioregion located in the Northern Territory of Australia, comprising an area of of the raised and heavily dissected sandstone plateau that characterises c ...
,
Central Arnhem
The Central Arnhem, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory, ...
,
Darwin Coastal
The Darwin Coastal, an IBRA bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory of Australia.IBR ...
,
Gulf Coastal
The Gulf Coastal, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory,IBR ...
,
Gulf Fall and Uplands
The Gulf Fall and Uplands, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Queensland,
,
Northern Kimberley
The Northern Kimberley, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia,Pine Creek bioregions of the Northern Territory.
Conservation status
''Leptosema bossiaeoides'' is listed as of "least concern" under the Northern Territory Government ''
Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...