''Bossiaea prostrata'', commonly known as creeping bossiaea, is a prostrate understory shrub in the pea family,

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

. It is a widespread species with orange-yellow flowers, purple-brown keels and trailing branches.

Description

''Bossiaea prostrata'' is a shrub with a prostrate spreading, scrambling habit to wide. The leaves are dark green on the upper side and paler on the underside, ovate to rounded or oblong, long, wide and have 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 ...

about long. The leaves are arranged alternately, simple, smooth or with sparse hairs,

stipules 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). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part of the anatomy ...

narrow to egg-shaped, long. The stems are flattened toward the apex and either smooth or with short flattened or spreading hairs. The flowers are single or in pairs, long, have orange-yellow standards, that are pinkish brown on the back, and purple-brown keels. The

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

long,

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 seed pods are oblong in shape and between long. Flowering occurs between September and November in its native range. It is similar to the species '' Bossiaea buxifolia'', but may be distinguished by its longer leaves, petioles and pedicels and more distant leaf spacing.

Taxonomy and naming

''Bossiaea prostrata'' was first formally described in 1812 by botanist

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

and the description was published in ''

Hortus Kewensis (Latin for 'Kew Garden'; abbr. ) is a series of works cataloguing the plant species in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Background Kew became a favored location for English courtiers ...

''. 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 ...

(''prostrata'') is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word meaning "down flat", "overthrown" or "laid low",

Distribution and habitat

Creeping bossiaea occurs in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

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 ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in Australia. It grows in coastal heath, grassland and open-forest on a variety of soils including clay-shale, preferring wetter locations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4947583 prostrata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Tasmania Flora of Victoria (state) Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)