Plants of
South Australia
Pultenaea densifolia
Fabaceae
Dense Bush-pea
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
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Extinct
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Etymology

Pultenaea named after Richard Pulteney (1730 � 1801), an English physician, botanist and biographer of Carl Linnaeus. Densifolia from Latin meaning having dense foliage.

Distribution and status

Found in the southern part of South Australia, from the Eyre Peninsula to the upper South-east, growing in dry sclerophyll woodland, heath and mallee. Also found in Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Rare in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern
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

Rigid diffuse or divaricate shrub to 50 cm high with terete stems covered with white woolly hairs, often largely obscured by stipules. Leaves broadly ovate, to 3 mm long and 2 mm wide, strongly recurved, apex acute, surfaces glabrous, the lower with prominent raised veins, slightly paler than upper. Flowers axillary clustered towards tips of branches with yellow-red pea-flowers. Flowering between September and November. Fruits are hairy brown ovoid pod. Seeds are brown with black mottled reniform seed to 2 mm long and 1.5 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. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 95%. 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.

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

1,200 (1.35 g)
18-Dec-2015DJD3310
Kangaroo Island
95%
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.
Germination table:
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