''Swainsona elegans'' 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 Western Australia. It is a prostrate or ascending annual with

imparipinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

leaves, usually with 7 to 15 egg-shaped or elliptic leaflets, and

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, 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 ...

s of up to 15 blue or reddish-purple flowers.

Description

''Swainsona elegans'' is a prostrate or ascending annual plant that typically grows to a height of up to with stems about in diameter. Its leaves are imparipinnate, up to about long with 7 to 15 egg-shaped or elliptic leaflets with the narrower end towards the base, the lower leaflets long and wide. There are variably-shaped

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 more than long at the base of the petiole. The flowers are arranged in racemes mostly of up to 15 on a peduncle long, each flower 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 joined at the base, forming a tube about long, the sepal lobes about the same length as the tube. The petals are pale blue, dark blue or reddish-purple, 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 long and wide, the wings 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 ...

about long and wide. Flowering occurs from July to October, and the fruit is a pod long and wide with the remains of the

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

about long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Swainsona elegans'' was first formally described in 1948 by Alma Theodora Lee in '' Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium'', from specimens collected east of Carnarvon in 1937. 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 ...

(''elegans'') means "fine" or "elegant".

Distribution and habitat

This species of pea grows in damp, often salty and on stony, hilly places in the

Avon Wheatbelt The Avon Wheatbelt is a bioregion in Western Australia. It has an area of . It is considered part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion. Geography The Avon Wheatbelt bioregion is mostly a gently undulating landscape with low rel ...

, Carnarvon,

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gascoyne has about of ...

, Murchison and Yalgoo bioregions of Western Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15484278 elegans Fabales of Australia Flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1948 Taxa named by Alma Theodora Lee