''Leptosema'' is a genus of thirteen species of flowering plants from the

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

, all

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 Australia. They are shrubs with photosynthetic stems, the leaves reduced to scales, mostly red or green flowers arranged singly or in small groups, each with a reduced standard petal and usually ten

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

Description

Plants in the genus ''Leptosema'' are low shrubs, with flattened to

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section (geometry), cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and S ...

, sometimes spiny, hairy branchlets. The stems are photosynthetic, the adult leaves reduced to scales. The flowers are arranged singly in the axils of upper scale-leaves, or in elongated

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 or in small

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s, sometimes in small racemes along the branchlets. The flowers are shades of red or green, but not pea-like, because the standard is equal to or shorter than the other petals and the

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 usually larger and more conspicuous than the other petals. There are usually ten stamens, roughly equal in length and free from each other. 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 up to 60 or more

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 and the pod is oval or elliptic to linear or cylindrical containing kidney shaped seeds lacking an

aril An aril (), also called arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode, or false aril, is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the seed to the ova ...

. ''Leptosema'' is most closely related to '' Jacksonia'' except that the flowers are adapted for bird pollination, whereas ''Jacksonia'' species are mostly bee-pollinated.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Leptosema'' 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''.

Accepted species

The following is a list of ''Letptosema'' species accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

as at April 2025: * '' Leptosema aculeatum'' Crisp ( W.A.) * '' Leptosema anomalum'' (Ewart & Morrison) Crisp (W.A., N.T.) * '' Leptosema aphyllum'' (W.A.) * '' Leptosema bossiaeoides'' Benth. (N.T.) * '' Leptosema cervicornu'' (W.A.) * '' Leptosema chambersii'' F.Muell. (W.A., N.T., S.A.) * '' Leptosema chapmanii'' ( Qld.) * '' Leptosema daviesioides'' (Turcz.) Crisp (W.A.) * '' Leptosema macrocarpum'' (W.A.) * '' Leptosema oxylobioides'' (Qld.) * '' Leptosema tomentosum'' (W.A.) * '' Leptosema uniflorum'' (R.Br. ex Benth.) Crisp (N.T.) * '' Leptosema villosum'' (N.T.)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q595652 Mirbelioids Fabales of Australia Rosids of Western Australia Fabaceae genera Endemic flora of Australia