''Podolobium procumbens'', commonly known as trailing shaggy-pea, trailing podolobium or trailing oxylobium, is a 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 south-eastern Australia. It is a trailing small shrub with oval-shaped leaves and orange pea-like flowers.

Description

''Podolobium procumbens'' is a low, spreading shrub to tall with smooth stems and forms a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a respons ...

. The leaves may be arranged opposite or in whorls, oval-shaped, long, wide, upper surface smooth, wavy, shiny and veined, lower surface with occasional hairs, pointed at the apex 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. 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 in small clusters at the end of branches or in leaf axils on a silky

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. The

bracteole 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 look ...

s are narrow lance-shaped, the

calyx CALYX, Inc. is a non-profit publisher of art and literature by women founded in 1976 based in Corvallis, Oregon. CALYX publishes both '' CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women'' twice a year and CALYX Books, which publishes one to three ...

long with flattened, soft, short hairs. The corolla long, orange with red markings, the standard petal almost orb-shaped, orange with a red centre, 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 ...

orange, 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 reddish. Flowering occurs from November to January and the fruit is an oblong pod, long, either straight or curved, and covered with long, straight, soft hairs.

Taxonomy and naming

Trailing shaggy-pea was first formally described in 1855 by botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller 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, Australia ...

who gave it the name ''Oxylobium procumbens'' in ''Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian plants''. In 1995

Michael Crisp Michael Douglas Crisp (born 1950) is an emeritus professor in the Research School of Biology at the Australian National University located in Canberra. In 1976, he gained a PhD from the University of Adelaide, studying long-term vegetation chan ...

and

Peter Henry Weston Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

changed the name to ''Podolobium procumbens'' and the change was published in ''Advances in Legume Systematics''. 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 ...

(''procumbens'') means "

procumbent This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

". Ferdinand von Mueller had previously published the name ''Podolobium procumbens'' in a report to the Victorian Government in 1853, but the name was not validly published because it was a

nomen nudum In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...

, that is, there was no Latin description.

Distribution and habitat

Trailing shaggy-pea occurs in sclerophyll forests and woodland in Victoria and south-eastern New South Wales.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7207037 Fabales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) procumbens Plants described in 1855 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller