Plants of
South Australia
Daviesia aphylla
Fabaceae
Few-spine Bitter-pea,
Dryland Bitter-pea
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 6

Prior names

Daviesia benthamii ssp. acanthoclona

Daviesia genistifolia var. colletioides

Daviesia nudula

Daviesia acanthoclona

Daviesia benthamii ssp. benthamii, partly

Common names

Few-spine Bitter-pea

Dryland Bitter-pea

Etymology

Daviesia named after the Rev. Hugh Davies (1739-1821), a Welsh botanist and an Anglican clergyman. Aphylla from the Greek 'a' meaning without and 'phyllon' meaning leaf, referring to leaf-less stems or if present, reduced to scales.

Distribution and status

Foud in the central part of South Australia from the Nullarbor to the Riverland, growing on a variety of soils in eucalyptus dominated heath, woodland and mallee. Also found in Western Australia. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Western Australia.
Herbarium regions: Nullarbor, Eyre Peninsula, Murray
NRM regions: Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect bushy shrub to 2 m high with glabrous, dull green to yellowish stems. Phyllodes occuring only near the apex of new season stems and reduced to scales at the lower nodes, pungent-tipped, to 25 mm long and 1.75 mm diameter, rigid, smooth or with faintly ribbed. Inflorescence 1 spike per axil with 4 to many orange to red pea-flowers. Flowering between August and October. Fruits are broad obovate to obtriangular pod to 7 mm long and 6 mm wide, strongly compressed, red to pale brown at maturity. Seeds are orange to brown with black mottle, reniform seed to 3.5 mm long and 2 mm wide. 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. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 100%. 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
BGA 
MSB
1,300 (5.05 g)
1,300 (5.05 g)
3018-Dec-2017JRG632
Eyre Peninsula
30-Jun-2018100%-18°C
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.