''Podolobium'', commonly known as shaggy peas, is a genus of six species of flowering plants in the family

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

that are

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 eastern Australia. The genus was formally described 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 ...

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 ...

'' in 1811.

Description

Podolobiums vary in size and

habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

from upright to

prostrate Prostrate may refer to:- *Prostration, a position of submission in religion etc. *Prone position, a face-down orientation of the body *Prostrate shrub A prostrate shrub is a woody plant, most of the branches of which lie upon or just above the ...

forms and stems usually have soft, smooth hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately, opposite or whorled, margins smooth or lobed. The leaf upper surface is covered with a network of veins, occasionally warty, edges rolled under or flat,

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 ...

stiff, rolled under or spreading. 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 branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

are at the end of branches or in

racemes A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, 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 produced as the shoo ...

in leaf axils, clusters or

corymbs Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

, with 3-lobed

bracts 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 loo ...

and usually falling off as the flower matures. The

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has 5 more or less equal teeth, upper two wider and joined higher up. The flower petals are clawed, standard petal at the back of the flower is more or less rounded, notched at the apex, longer than the other petals. The stamens are free, the

anthers 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 filamen ...

even and the ovary stalked. The seed pods are oblong to egg-shaped.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Podolobium'' was first formally described in 1811 by

and the description was published in ''

''.

Distribution

All species of shaggy pea are

to Australia, found in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Species list

The following species are 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 October 2020: * ''

Podolobium aciculiferum ''Podolobium aciculiferum'', commonly known as needle shaggy-pea, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and endemic to eastern Australia. It has stiff, pointed leaves and yellow pea-like flowers with red markings. Description ''Podolobium ...

F.Muell. Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria (state), Vic ...

— needle shaggy-pea (N.S.W., Qld.) * ''

Podolobium aestivum ''Podolobium aestivum'', is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to New South Wales, Australia. It is an upright shrub with green spiky leaves and orange pea-like flowers. Description ''Podolobium aestivum'' is an upright shr ...

'' Crisp & P.H.Weston (N.S.W.) * ''

Podolobium alpestre ''Podolobium alpestre'', commonly known as alpine shaggy-pea, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has oblong to egg-shaped leaves and yellow to orange pea-like flowers with red markings. De ...

'' (F.Muell.) Crisp & P.H.Weston — alpine shaggy-pea (A.C.T., Vic., N.S.W.) * ''

Podolobium ilicifolium ''Podolobium ilicifolium'', commonly known as prickly shaggy-pea, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and grows in eastern and southern Australia. The inflorescence is a cluster of yellow or orange pea-like flowers with red markings and ...

'' (Andrews) Crisp & P.H.Weston — prickly shaggy pea (Qld., Vic., N.S.W) * ''

Podolobium procumbens ''Podolobium procumbens'', commonly known as trailing shaggy-pea, trailing podolobium or trailing oxylobium, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a trailing small shrub with oval-shaped le ...

'' (F.Muell.) Crisp & P.H.Weston — trailing shaggy-pea (Vic., N.S.W) * ''

Podolobium scandens ''Podolobium scandens'', commonly known as netted shaggy-pea, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a prostrate, small shrub with orange-yellow pea-like flowers and red markings. Description ''Po ...

'' DC. — netted shaggy-pea (Qld., N.S.W)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5234500 Fabales of Australia Fabaceae genera Endemic flora of Australia