''Bossiaea arenicola'' 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 far north Queensland. It is a shrub or small tree with broadly elliptic to more or less round leaves, and yellow and pale greenish flowers.

Description

''Bossiaea arenicola'' is a shrub or tree that typically grows to a height of up to about . The leaves are elliptic to more or less round, long and wide on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

long with brown

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 about long at the base. The flowers are borne on short side shoots 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 with a single

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 ...

long. 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'' ...

s are and joined at the base forming a tube with the two upper lobes triangular long and the lower three lobes 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 yellow, up to long, 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 ...

long 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 ...

pale greenish yellow and about the same length as the standard. Flowering occurs from April to June and the fruit is an oblong to elliptic pod about long.

Taxonomy

''Bossiaea arenicola'' was first formally described in 1991 by

James Henderson Ross James Henderson Ross (born 1941) is an Australian botanist. Authority abbreviation References {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, James Henderson Living people 1941 births 20th-century Australian botanists ...

in the journal '' Muelleria'' from specimens collected on the track to the McIvor River on

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

. 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 ...

(''arenicola'') means "sand inhabitant".

Distribution and habitat

This bossiaea grows on sand dunes in heath and shrubland from the tip of Cape York Peninsula to near

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

References

External links

The Australasian Virtual Herbarium – ''Bossiaea arenicola'' occurrence data
{{Taxonbar , from = Q15525689 arenicola Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1991