Plants of
South Australia
Swainsona minutiflora
Fabaceae
Small-flower Swainson-pea
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock painting: 1

Etymology

Swainsona named after Isaac Swainson (1746-1812), an English scientist and horticulturalist who had a private botanic garden near London. Minutiflora from the Latin 'minutus' meaning very small and 'florus' meaning flower; referring to the species minute flowers.

Distribution and status

Endemic and restricted to gypseous stony plan in central South Australia. Native. Rare in South Australia.
Herbarium region: Lake Eyre
NRM region: South Australian Arid Lands
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Small annual herbaceous plant with several stems radiating from a central tap root covered in dense hairs. Leaves 3-5cm long with 5-9 leaflets, glabrous above and hairy below. Flowers small, light pink 4-5 mm long. Fruits are long dark brown to black leathery pods to 20mm long and 3 mm wide covered in short hairs. Seeds are olive-green to brown reinform seed to 2mm with a wrinkled surface. Seed embryo type is bent.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between September and October. Collect mature pods, dark brown or black with hard seeds. Mature pods can be found lying on the ground next to the plant containing hard seeds. Place the seed in a tray and leave to dry. When dried the pods can 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 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
BGA3,800 (7.39 g)50+9-Oct-2010DJD1965
Lake Eyre
1-Jan-2012100%-18°C
BGA 
MSB
4,600 (8.65 g)
4,600 (8.65 g)
20+7-Oct-2010TST1054
Lake Eyre
1-Jan-2012100%-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.