Botanical art
Common names
Clustered Bush-pea
Etymology
Pultenaea named after Richard Pulteney (1730 � 1801), an English physician, botanist and biographer of Carl Linnaeus. Dentata from the Latin 'dens' meaning tooth; referring to the tooth-like margin of the bracts.
Distribution and status
Found on Kangaroo Island, southern Mount Lofty Ranges and the lower South-east in South Australia, in damp heathland, in swamps and along streams. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Rare in Queensland. Common in the other states.
Herbarium regions: Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Lax, open, prostrate or procumbent shrub with branches to 80 cm long and finely ribbed and hairy stems. Leaves alternate, oblanceolate or elliptic, to 12 mm long and 2 mm wide, upper surface glabrous, paler than lower; lower surface glabrous or glabrescent, occasionally slightly wrinkled or scabrous. Inflorescence terminal clusters with dense bright-yellow with red stripes pea-flowers. Flowering between October and November. Fruits are sparsely hairy brown ovoid pod to 5 mm long. Seeds are yellow reniform seed to 2 mm long and 1.2 mm wide, with a cream aril. Seed embryo type is bent.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between November and January. Collect maturing pods, those that are brown or turning brown and contain hard seeds inside. Place the pods in a paper bag and leave to dry for one to two weeks. Then rub the pods with a rubber bung to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds 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. The seed coat needs to be ruptured so that water can enter the seed before germination can occur. Methods to rupture the seed coat include scarification with sand paper or nicking the seed coat with a sharp blade or hot water treatment by immersion in boiling water.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BGA | 2,400 (2.79 g) | 30+ | 27-Nov-2014 | DJD3073 Southern Lofty | 1-Jan-2016 | 85% | -18°C |
BGA | 570 (0.476 g) | 30+ | 4-Jan-2022 | BKB30 Kangaroo Island | 7-Jul-2022 | 100% | -18°C |
BGA | 2,940 (3.220 g) | 25+ | 3-Dec-2021 | BKB29 Kangaroo Island | 7-Jul-2022 | 100% | -18°C |