Plants of
South Australia
Swainsona behriana
Fabaceae
Behr's Swainson-pea
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
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

Prior names

Swainsona oroboides ssp. hirsuta

Swainsona oroboides var. hirsuta

Etymology

Swainsona named after Isaac Swainson (1746-1812), an English scientist and horticulturalist who had a private botanic garden near London. Behriana named after Hermann H. Behr (1818-1904), a German-American doctor, entomologist and botanist, who collected in South Australia.

Distribution and status

Once found in the Mount Lofty Ranges and the lower South-east, growing on light or occasionally heavy soils in moist grassland and woodland. Now only found in the northern and eastern side of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Also found in New South Wales and Victoria. Native. Endangered in South Australia. This SA Seed Bank collected and banked 2,400 seeds from Bagot's Well and 260 seeds from Callington in 2016 with the support of Natural Resources Adelaide & Mount Lofty Ranges. A number of plants are being propagated for a Seed Production (SPA) area at the Botanic Gardens to assist current recovery projects. Rare in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Prostrate or low growing perennial herb to 15 cm high with many slender stems arising from a stout stock-root. Leaves to 50 mm long with 9-13 leaflets covered in fine hairs. Inflorescence purple pea-flowers in small clusters at the end of a long stalk. Flowering between August and October. Fruits are black stiff pod to 18 mm long, covered in fair hairs. Seeds are light brown to orange or mottled, semi-flat reniform seed to 2 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, with a wrinkled surface. Seed embryo type is bent.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between October and December. Collect mature pods, those turning black and contain hard seeds. Mature pods can be found lying on the ground next to the plant. When dried the pods become hard and difficult to open. Use a rubber bung to rub the pods or break the pods open with your fingers 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 80%. 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:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
 
MSB

1,950 (5.3 g)
100+23-Oct-2008MJT215
Northern Lofty
90%
BGA2,900 (5.24 g)50+11-Nov-2010MJT327
Murray
1-Jan-201280%-18°C
BGA1101030-Oct-2015River Road
Northern Lofty
2-May-2017N/C-18°C
BGA260 (0.364 g)625-Nov-2016MJT327
Murray
1-Nov-201795%-18°C
BGA665 (1.33 g)126-Dec-2017Kanmantoo
Murray
30-Jun-201890%-18°C
BGA3,800 (6.26 g)50+31-Oct-2018DJD3808
Murray
24-Apr-2019100%-18°C
BGA340 (0.713 g)30+14-Nov-2018Moppa
Northern Lofty
24-Apr-2019N/C-18°C
BGA650 (1.460 g)10+31-Mar-2020TST1465
Murray
28-Jun-202165%-18°C
BGA1,700 (5.02 g)50+1-Dec-2016Bagot Well
Northern Lofty
28-Jun-202165%-18°C
BGA1,250 (2.260 g)2016-Nov-2022Keyneton
Northern Lofty
20-Jun-2023 -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.
Germination table:
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