''Bossiaea alpina'' 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 a small area in south-eastern

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. It is a diffuse shrub with oblong to elliptic leaves and bright yellow flowers arranged singly on the ends of branchlets.

Description

''Bossiaea alpina'' is a diffuse shrub that typically grows to a height of up to about and has hairy stems. The leaves are more or less

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

, oblong to elliptic, folded lengthwise, long and wide with triangular

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly on the ends of branchlets, and are long on a peduncle long with crowded

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s long. The sepals are about long with oblong to egg-shaped bracteoles long at the base of the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

tube. The petals are bright yellow, more or less equal in length and 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 ...

is densely hairy, more or less spherical and about in diameter. Flowering occurs from December to January.

Taxonomy and naming

''Bossiaea alpina'' was first formally described in 2012 by Ian R. Thompson in the journal '' Muelleria'' from specimens collected b
David Albert Albrecht
near Surveyors Creek Camp in 1992. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''alpina'') refers to the species' alpine and subalpine habitats.

Distribution and habitat

This bossiaea grows in alpine and subalpine heath and woodland in the southern alps of Victoria, including on Lake Mountain,

Mount Buller Mount Buller is primarily a resort town on the slopes of Mount Buller (Victoria), Mount Buller, within Mount Buller Alpine Resort, an unincorporated area of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located approximately n ...

and in the Howill Plains area.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65931868

alpina Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH & Co. KG is an automobile manufacturing company based in Buchloe, in the Ostallgäu district of Bavaria, Germany that develops and sells high-performance versions of BMW cars. Alpina works closely with BMW and t ...

Flora of Victoria (state) Plants described in 2012