Bossiaea fragrans

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{speciesbox

|name =

|image = Bossiaea fragrans.jpg

|image_caption = In the Australian National Botanic Gardens

|status_system = EPBC

|status = CR

|genus = Bossiaea

|species = fragrans

|authority = K.L.McDougall{{cite web|title=Pultenaea fragrans|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/223340|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=29 July 2021}}

|synonyms =

}}

Pultenaea fragrans is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to a small area of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub with flattened cladodes, small, scale-like leaves, and pea-like, yellow and red flowers.

Description

Bossiaea fragrans is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of {{cvt|1.0–2.5|m}} with flattened, winged cladodes {{cvt|8–14|mm}} wide. The leaves are reduced to dark brown scales, {{cvt|1.5–1.9|mm}} long. The flowers are borne singly or in groups of up to six, each flower on a pedicel {{cvt|2.5–3|mm}} long with overlapping, narrow egg-shaped bracts up to {{cvt|1.5|mm}} long at the base. The five sepals are {{cvt|4.5–5.0|mm}} long and joined at the base forming a tube, the two upper lobes about {{cvt|1.5|mm}} wide and the lower three lobes about {{cvt|1.0|mm}} wide. There are also bracteoles but that fall off before the flower opens. The standard petal is yellow with a red base and {{cvt|10.5–12.0|mm}} long, the wings yellow with a red base and about {{cvt|10–11|mm}} long and the keel is dark red and {{cvt|10–11|mm}} wide. Flowering occurs in September and October and the fruit is an oblong pod {{cvt|24–38|mm}} long.{{cite journal |last1=McDougall |first1=Keith L. |title=Four new species related to Bossiaea bracteosa F.Muell. ex Benth. in south-eastern Australia |journal=Telopea |date=2009 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=356–358}}{{cite web |last1=Major |first1=Richard |title=Bossiaea fragrans - critically endangered species listing |url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species-scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2008-2010/bossiaea-fragrans-critically-endangered-species-listing |publisher=New South Wales Government Department of Planning, Industry and Environment |access-date=29 July 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Wood |first1=Betty |title=Bossiaea fragrans |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/plants_se_nsw/text/entities/bossiaea_fragrans.htm |publisher=Lucid Keys |access-date=29 July 2021}}

Taxonomy and naming

Bossiaea fragrans was first formally described in 2009 by Keith Leonard McDougall in the journal Telopea from specimens he collected in the Abercrombie Karst Conservation Area.{{cite web|title=Bossiaea fragrans|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/651609 |publisher=APNI|access-date=29 July 2021}}

Distribution and habitat

This bossiaea is only known from two populations near Abercrombie Caves on the southern tablelands of New South Wales where it grows in woodland.{{cite web |title=Bossiaea fragrans |url=https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Bossiaea~fragrans |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |access-date=29 July 2021}}

Conservation status

Bossiaea fragrans is listed as "critically endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.

References