Plants of
South Australia
Daviesia brevifolia
Fabaceae
Leafless Bitter-pea
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 6

Etymology

Daviesia named after the Rev. Hugh Davies (1739-1821), a Welsh botanist and an Anglican clergyman. Brevifolia from the Latin 'brevis' meaning short and 'folium' meaning a leaf.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, from the southern Eyre Peninsula, Mount Lofty Ranges to the South-East, growing on coastal and inland sclerophyll woodlands, often on sandy soils. Also found in Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Broom-like shrub to 1 m high with rigid, terete and striate branchlets to 2 mm thick, glabrous. Juvenile leaves occasionally present; 2 lobed to hatchet-shaped, to 30 mm long and 10 mm wide, fleshy. Phyllodes reduced to spines, regularly spaced, to 5 mm long; terete, pungent, oblique to branches. Inflorescences axillary with solitary or clusters of pink-apricot to brown-red pea-flowers. Flowering between August and October. Fruits are dark brown asymmetrically triangular pod to 15 mm long and 10 mm wide, with one seed inside. Seeds are orange-brown with black mottled reniform seed to 4 mm long and 2 mm wide, and a cream aril. Seed embryo type is bent.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Collect maturing brown seed pods from the plant using secateurs or by hand. Plant is prickly so it is advisable to wear gloves. Leave the pods in a paper bag to dry for at least a week. Rub the pods gently with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the seeds from unwanted material. Store the dried fruit heads with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. This species has physical dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking or softening the seed coat).

Seeds stored:
  Hide
LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

1,100 (28.27 g)
100+12-Dec-2006TST136
Kangaroo Island
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.