''Swainsona eremaea'' 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 South Australia. It is a low-growing, spreading, probably

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

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 with 5 to 11 linear, oblong to broadly wedge-shaped 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 bright red to brown or yellow flowers in

s of 5 to 20.

Description

''Swainsona eremaea'' is a low-growing, spreading, probably perennial herb, with initially erect stems. The leaves are imparipinnate, long with 5 to 11 linear, oblong to broadly wedge-shaped, or heart-shaped leaflets with their narrower end towards the base. The leaflets are mostly long and wide with

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 up to long at the base of the petioles. The flowers are bright red, brown or yellow, arranged in racemes of 5 to 20 on a peduncle wide with broadly lance-shaped to elliptic

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 at the base. 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 long with lobes shorter than or equal to the tube. The standard petal is long and wide, 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 ...

long and about deep. The fruit is a narrowly egg-shaped pod long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Swainsona eremaea'' was first formally described in 1993 by Joy Thompson in the journal '' Telopea'', from specimens collected b
Frank Badman
south of William Creek in 1984. 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 ...

(''eremaea'') means "from the desert".

Distribution

This species of pea grows in central northern South Australia, in sandy or stony soils on floodplains.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q65950233 eremaea Fabales of Australia Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1993 Taxa named by Joy Thompson