Bossiaea pulchella
{{Short description|Species of legume}}
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|image = Bossiaea pulchella - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg
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|genus = Bossiaea
|species = pulchella
|authority = Meisn.{{cite web|title=Bossiaea pulchella|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/62765|publisher=Australian Plant Census|access-date=23 August 2021}}
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Bossiaea pulchella is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender, erect shrub with egg-shaped leaves, and orange-yellow, purplish brown and dark red flowers.
Description
Bossiaea pulchella is a slender, erect shrub that typically grows to a height of up to {{cvt|1.5|m}} with densely hairy branchlets. The leaves are egg-shaped with a heart-shaped base, {{cvt|3–10|mm}} long and {{cvt|20–80|mm}} wide on a petiole {{cvt|0.3–1.5|mm}} long with triangular stipules {{cvt|0.3–0.6|mm}} long at the base. The flowers are arranged singly on glabrous pedicels {{cvt|2.0–2.7|mm}} long, with bracts about {{cvt|2|mm}} long attached to the pedicels. There are oblong bracteoles {{cvt|4.7–7.0|mm}} long on the pedicels. The five sepals are joined at the base, forming a tube {{cvt|3–4|mm}} long, the lobes {{cvt|1.0–1.5|mm}} but the two upper lobes broader than the lower lobes. The standard petal is orange-yellow with a purplish-brown base and {{cvt|10.8–14|mm}} long, the wings {{cvt|8.7–2.3|mm}} long, and the keel is dark red and {{cvt|8.0–9.7|mm}} long. Flowering occurs from August to October and the fruit is a pod {{cvt|10–14|mm}} long.{{FloraBase|name=Bossiaea pulchella|id=3717}}{{cite journal |last1=Ross |first1=James H. |title=A conspectus of the Western Australian Bossiaea species (Bossiaeeae: Fabaceae). Muelleria 23: |journal=Muelleria |date=2006 |volume=11 |pages=39–43 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/278250#page/41/mode/1up |access-date=22 August 2021}}
Taxonomy and naming
Bossiaea pulchella was first formally described in 1844 by Carl Meissner in Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae from specimens collected on the Darling Scarp in 1839.{{cite web|title=Bossiaea pulchella|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/468532 |publisher=APNI|access-date=28 August 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Meissner |first1=Carl |last2=Lehmann |first2=Johann G.C. |title=Plantae Preissianae |volume=1|date=1844 |location=Hamburg |page=84 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/498179#page/89/mode/1up |access-date=23 August 2021}} The specific epithet (pulchella) means "small and beautiful".{{cite book |last1=Sharr |first1=Francis Aubi |last2=George |first2=Alex |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2019 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=286 |edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
This bossiaea usually grows in lateritic soil in woodland in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.
Conservation status
Bossiaea pulchella is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
References
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Category:Flora of Western Australia